Chrism Mass: 30.03.26
Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow
Mass @ 7.30pm
Introduction:
The Chrism Mass is our evening of the Oils – the blessing of Oil of Catechumen, the blessing of the Oil of the Sick, and the consecration of the Oil of Chrism. It is the evening when Priestly Promises are renewed and priests, collaborating with their lay brothers and sisters, are encouraged, supported, and affirmed in their ministry.
From wherever you have travelled from this night to our Cathedral, know that you are very welcome. As the front cover of your booklet reads: ‘Fifty-Six Parishes, Three Deaneries and Eleven Pastoral Areas: Gathered as One Family in Faith’ …
… and so, as that family of faith in this Holy of Weeks, on this sacred night let us acknowledge our sins, and so, prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries …
Homily:
There is a familiarity around Luke’s gospel text for this Mass of Chrism. We have heard it before. This is not our first Chrism Mass. And yet every time we hear the text from St. Luke there is freshness and an urgency that is a stimulus to action: “the spirt of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight …”[1]. All of us here this Chrism night have been anointed, we are called in our many different callings to live out that anointing.
The oils that are blessed and consecrated this night are the oils poured on us at baptism. Baptism is the most important sacrament, everything else – the openness to mercy and healing in Reconciliation, the commitment to be nourished at His table in Eucharist, the promise to live out our the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation, the commitment to another person in Sacramental Marriage, the promise to be an alter Christus at Ordination and the soothing balm of Anointing at times of Sickness – all are inextricably linked to baptism.
Baptism is the most important sacrament of Christian leadership. Preparation for baptism is very necessary; we should never rush it. I encourage the many baptism preparation teams at work in several parishes. It is great to know that there are adults being welcomed fully into our Church later in the week at Easter Vigils.
We have entered an exciting time in our diocese with the formal training of twenty-five candidates who will work as lay pastoral workers. I welcome many of them who are in our congregation this night. Indeed, the offertory gifts will be presented by some of those very candidates in a short while. Lay Pastoral Ministry formation is the fruit of decades of effort on the part of many to promote and encourage the full and active participation of the laity in the mission of the Church. We have been blessed in Kildare & Leighlin with a number of full-time lay people whose work and example in our diocese continues to be a valuable resource and blessing for us.
I am reminded of the comment that a Church of only ordained members would be a peculiar place indeed. But it is also true that a Church without the ordained would be a much-impoverished witness to the values of the Gospel.
As we continue the vital work of encouraging the active participation of the laity in the mission of the Church I would ask this Chrism Night that we give equal emphasis and ardour to encouraging vocations to the priesthood so that the Good News of Christ will be preached to the new generations of Kildare & Leighlin folk.
I am very conscious this night, of priests who are unwell or facing a challenging diagnosis, you are in all our prayers. As always, I congratulate those celebrating significant jubilees of ordination this year: Matt Kelly (70 years); Jim O’Connell (60 years); Tom Little & John McEvoy (50 years); Ger Ahern, Ger Breen & Andy Leahy (40 years); Willie Byrne, Liam Morgan & John Heinhold (30 years) and Paddy Byrne (25 years). Mick Noonan, our eldest priest will be 72 years ordained this June. I thank the nineteen priests from overseas who work among us; their contribution is appreciated. I thank our Permanent Deacons and welcome all of them here, especially the most recently ordained: Jody Callan, John Delaney, Sebastian Kopijka, Michal Mizgala and Declan Prendergast. I thank all my brother priests and deacons for their great ministry and all of you who collaborate with them.
The Mass of Chrism reminds us of our calling, a calling that is rooted in our baptism. All of us are, as this year’s Confirmation theme runs, ‘Loved, Chosen, Necessary’. Baptism allows us all to belong, and the synod Synthesis reminds us ‘belonging’ is critical to our faith journey. Every one of you in the Cathedral this night is needed in our Church. Lay Pastoral Ministers do not replace the clergy. Lay Pastoral Ministers do not replace the lay faithful already immersed in the life of their parish. The clergy do not replace the call of every baptised person. The Church of Kildare & Leighlin needs everyone.
Each of us has a role in fostering and encouraging all vocations. On this Chrism night let us be especially mindful of our priests who are needed to ensure that we continue as eucharistic communities, as they preach the word of God and celebrate the Mass, giving us the nourishment of Christ whose name we all bear through our baptism.
As we gather in such numbers, I am very conscious of the small Christian communities in the Holy Land, who are unable to celebrate Chrism and the other ceremonies of Holy Week because of the ongoing conflict. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa asks his people and all of us to pray the rosary for peace. I suggest we also light our Taybeh Peace oil lamp, the Diocesan Reach Out gift back in 2008; let us light it in all our churches during the ceremonies this Holy Week. Taybeh is the last fully Christian town on the West Bank currently under renewed Israeli settler incursions. In a small way, we will be walking with those unable to mark these hugely significant moments in our Christian calendar. I now light the Cathedral Taybeh lamp.
[1] Lk.4:18