CHRISM MASS, 1st April 2010

 

 My dear brothers and sisters,

 

The Scriptures today speak of the Christ, the anointed one, and of the share we have in his mission to bring good news, healing and justice to our world. For this, we, too, are anointed and consecrated, initiated and nourished by the sacraments in which the Holy Oils play such a significant part. So, before we begin the Sacred Triduum and celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil, we celebrate this Chrism Mass.

 

I remember vividly the first time that I celebrated the Chrism Mass in the Cathedral five years ago. As I processed from the altar to the Bishop’s Chair, my legs almost buckled beneath me. I was overcome by the powerful reality of this gathering of priests and deacons, religious and people, anointed and consecrated as Christ’s body, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart, the local Church in the Diocese of Northampton. It was then that I was struck how humbly I had to walk with God as your bishop.

 

Many, many times since that first Chrism Mass those words from the Prophet Micah - Walk humbly with your God - have reverberated in my mind and in my heart, but never more so than when I went to Rome towards the end of January with the Bishops of England and Wales. There, as bishops of local churches, we visited the tombs of the two pillars of the Church, the apostles, Peter and Paul. We asked their prayers that we might be strengthened in our responsibilities as their successors.

 

To express our unity with the Universal Church, each of us had an individual audience with the Holy Father. For fifteen minutes I had the privilege of talking with the Pope. Gentle, courteous and polite, Pope Benedict listened intently as I talked about us, about the Diocese of Northampton.

 

In his address to all the bishops Pope Benedict spoke of the many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales. He said how much he was looking forward to his forthcoming visit here to witness that faith as the successor of Peter and to strengthen and confirm it.

 

How much our faith needs strengthening and confirming at the moment. I am sure that all of us are affected by the terrible crimes of abuse, the suffering of victims, and the way in which the Church dealt with the problem in the past. It is a darkness that has overshadowed the light and joy of our faith. All of us must seek the light of truth, the light of Christ, in our lives. All of us must work together to rebuild trust and confidence, openness and transparency in our communities. Our communities must be places that are safe and secure for people of all ages. I am so grateful for our Diocesan Safeguarding ministry and to the parish representatives who give so much time and energy to the ministry of safeguarding, which is so much a part of living out the Gospel.

 

I am filled with gratitude, too, for the countless number of people involved in the prayer and life and mission of the Church in our parishes and schools, in our families and in the workplace. You are the salt of the earth. You make the light of Christ shine out through your goodness and through lives of integrity. Pass on the faith to new generations comprehensively and accurately. Young people are looking for what is good and true. Witness to them by your lives built on the rock who is Jesus Christ, lives nurtured by his Holy Spirit and the grace of the sacraments.

 

The blessing of the oils of Catechumens and Chrism are a vivid reminder of our own Baptism and Confirmation, and of the Baptisms and Confirmations being celebrated around the Diocese during the Easter Vigil. The blessing of the Oil of the Sick brings home the comfort and healing of the Holy Spirit in our vulnerability and suffering.

 

Central to our lives as Catholics is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the holy sacrifice of the Mass which, as we know, is the source and summit of our lives as followers of Christ. Around the altar a community of faith is nourished and fed, finds its identity and its call to service. One of the challenges facing us is that, even with the generous gift of priests from abroad, there are not enough priests to sustain all the communities who currently gather for Sunday Mass. Do I ask communities to merge or to celebrate Mass on alternate Sundays? What does a community do on the Sunday when there is no Mass? It is because of this challenge that I am so keen for as many people as possible to be engaged in the "Walking humbly with our God" process in the parishes and in the pastoral areas before I make difficult decisions. So, a third thank you to the Deans and clergy, the Pastoral Area Links and the Steering Groups and everyone connecting with that task.

 

In the midst of all that I have been speaking about, are our priests, my principal co-workers. My dear brothers, in this Year for Priests, Pope Benedict has asked that I hold up before you the person of John Henry Newman who saw himself first and foremost as a priest, a priest dedicated to prayer, a priest who was pastorally sensitive to the needs of his flock, a priest who had a passion for preaching the Gospel. With him, we have the enormous joy and privilege of standing among the people of God as alter Christus. In Newman’s words, “Christ’s priests have no priesthood but His …. what they do, He does; when they baptise, He is baptising; when they bless, He is blessing.”

 

Not one of us called to be a priest feels worthy. With St. Peter we want to say, “Leave me, Lord. I am a sinful man,” not just on the day of Ordination but every day of our priesthood and especially when we fail the Lord and his holy people. But be confident, for it is you and me he has called, and it is in our weakness that his grace shines.

 

Dear brother priests, you play an irreplaceable role in the life of the Church. Be of good heart. With me and with your communities, rejoice in the gift of your priestly ministry which can never be taken for granted. As you know, I have asked our parishes to acknowledge your priestly ministry to them in simple ways, celebrating your ordination anniversaries and ensuring that you have time to breathe including a day off and a proper holiday.

 

Certainly, I do not take your priesthood for granted. I know how exasperating it can be when, after much work, all goes well and no one says a word and then a light bulb fails, and you are the focus of a complaint just at a critical moment when you are dealing with a bereaved family or a delicate pastoral situation. You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers.

 

Just as there is a challenge for our communities, so there is a challenge for us priests to spend ourselves in the service of Christ. It is for that our hands were anointed with the oil of Chrism. But that challenge to spend ourselves in the service of Christ includes a further challenge - to accept that we cannot do everything. We can meet neither our own expectations of ourselves nor the expectations of those around us.

 

The increasing demands upon you, for example, looking after two parishes, can be overwhelming and discouraging. So, may I urge you to enter into the mind of Jesus in prayer, and to draw from that prayer zeal for your priestly work but also humility -  the humility to accept your limitation,s and when your energy is drained, to hand over the task to the Lord. I know that that is easier said than done, but both the zeal and the humility flow from our inner life of prayer.

 

I rejoice that, because of your example, we now have four students training for the priesthood. Spare no effort in encouraging vocations to the priesthood. Please work with your communities at identifying suitable candidates. The ministry of the priesthood is essential for the Church.

 

Because the priesthood is absolutely pivotal in the life of the Diocese, I shall now ask you to renew your priestly commitment in the presence of this assembly after I have asked our dear deacons to renew their commitment. Then I shall bless the Oils of the Sick and of Catechumens, and consecrate the Oil of Chrism, the signs of the reality of who we all are, priests and deacons, religious and Christ’s faithful people, temples of the Holy Spirit, radiant with the goodness of life that has its source in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.