Holy Thursday Chrism Mass  

8th April 2004

Homily by Most Rev Dr Philip Boyce, OCD,  Bishop of Raphoe

 “The Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to proclaim good news,  to heal, to comfort.” (cf. Is 6)

            Dear Brother priests! 

You celebrate the Eucharist many hundreds of times every year, but the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday is special among them all.  This is the occasion when you surround your bishop in the Cathedral, when you renew your priestly promises, where the Holy Oils for the Sacraments are consecrated, and together we reflect on the great gift of ordination given to us for the sake of the Church, the Bride of Christ.

             We return in spirit to what St Luke calls “the large upper room”(Lk 22:12).  There our ministerial priesthood was born. There this surpassing gift was first given to the Church, in the person of the Apostles.  From them it was passed on in unbroken succession down to the present day.  The Pope gathers today with the priests of Rome to celebrate and give thanks for the priesthood.  Every bishop does likewise in the Cathedral church with the priests of his diocese.  The present Pope has for the past twenty-five years sent a Letter to the priests of the whole world as an expression of unity on Holy Thursday.  And because our priesthood was instituted at the Last Supper, it is, he says, “both a pleasure and a duty to gather once again in the Upper Room and to remind one another with heartfelt gratitude of the lofty mission which we share” (No. 1)

             In his Encyclical Letter last year on the Church and the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II reminded us that the Church lives from the Eucharist (No. 1).  The same is true of the ministerial priesthood.  What would our priesthood be without the Eucharist?  Indeed, it would not exist at all.  Something essential and indispensable would be missing.  “There is a particular interplay between the Eucharist and the priesthood, an interplay which goes back to the Upper Room:  these two Sacraments were born together and their destiny is indissolubly linked until the end of the world” (Letter, No 3).  The same Spirit of God, who comes with his transforming power on the Bread and Wine at every Mass, comes upon the candidate at the moment of Ordination and changes him into an ordained minister of the Lord, anointing him as priest and marking him with a spiritual seal that can never be lost or deleted.

             All this is not for personal glory.  Priests are for the people, for the Church, for the work of sanctification and salvation.  The calling to be a priest is not the same as that to other professions.  A young man could freely choose either to be a carpenter or a computer technician, to go into business or become a politician.  But to become a priest one needs a call from on high.  No one can choose it, unless he had been chosen for it by God’s calling:  “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mk 1:17).

            On this vocation, the spiritual development of all other callings and profession depends.  The priest is called to offer gifts and sacrifice to God on behalf of all.  He acts in the Person of Christ the Head, at the most decisive moments in administering the Sacraments.  He is the guarantee that the saving action of Christ and the mission of the Apostles are continued throughout all times in every land, in every language and culture, in every parish.  The Catechism teaches as follows:

             “The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church.  The saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was committed to the apostles and through them to their successors:  they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person.  The ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments” (CCC, 1120).

             The faithful need their priests.  They need that sacramental link with Christ, the Saviour.,  They need to hear the words spoken with spiritual authority and power:  “This is my Body. This is my Blood”,  and again:  “I absolve you from your sins.”  The ordained priest is their servant in the things that pertain to God.

             But do we have a sufficient number of workers for the Lord’s harvest?  In one sense, we know that there will always be generous hearts who leave aside the attractions of this world and follow the Lord’s call.  On the other hand, “the number of priests is never sufficient to meet the constantly increasing demands of evangelisation and the pastoral care of the faithful” (Letter, No 4).

             The Lord still calls, but his voice is stifled in many young hearts by the clamouring voices of this world’s invitations.  Many can no longer hear or, if they hear, they hesitate to follow the still small voice of Christ who calls them.  The prevailing youth culture in the wealthy countries of the world makes it very difficult for young people to make lasting decisions and commitments.  That is particularly so when they face the decision to give themselves to the Lord in the priesthood or consecrated life.   

            Yet, we must in no way be discouraged.  The Lord does not cease to give the gift of a vocation to young hearts.  Our task is to live in such a way that we help to create an atmosphere which is helpful for young people in discerning the Lord’s voice and in giving a generous answer to Him.

             The first thing the Pope tells us to do is what the Lord himself told his disciples to do when He saw that the labourers for his harvest were few, namely, to pray unceasingly.  “Following the invitation of Jesus, we need to pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest (cf. Mt 9:37).  Prayer, enriched by the silent offering of suffering, remains the first and most effective means of pastoral work for vocations.  To pray means to keep our gaze fixed on Christ, confident that from him, the High Priest, and from his divine oblation, there will be an abundant growth, by the work of the Holy Spirit, of the seeds of those vocations needed in every age for the Church’s life and mission” (Letter, No 5).

             Indeed, we ourselves as priests are like sowers scattering the seeds of new life in the hearts of those we meet and minister to.  Each one of us, and not simply those on the vocations promotion team, should be promoters of vocations in young people.  Regularly in your parish you will spot one or two young boys who seem to have the qualities and disposition of a future priest.  Do not hesitate to cultivate that promise, or to suggest to one or other:  ‘ Did you ever think of becoming a priest?’  

            Among those you might give particular attention to are the altar servers.  Most priests, when they were young boys, served Mass.  This is the second suggestion in promoting vocations, mentioned by the Holy Father :  “Among other initiatives, show special care for altar servers, who represent a kind of ‘garden’ of priestly vocations.  The group of altar servers, under your guidance as part of the parish community, can be given a valuable experience of Christian education and become a kind of pre-seminary... With the help of the families most involved and catechists, be particularly concerned for the group of servers so that, through their service at the altar, each of them will learn to grow in love for the Lord Jesus, to recognise Him truly present in the Eucharist and to experience the beauty of rthe liturgy” (Letter No 6).

             And whatever you do, whether you pray or are taken up with apostolic work, give the young people who see you the witness of your dedicated and holy life.  The Holy Father in his Letter to us for Holy Thursday emphasises the attractive value of good example.  Be models that young hearts look up to and imitate.  “More than any other effort on behalf of vocations  (writes Pope John Paul II), our personal fidelity is indispensable.  What counts is our personal commitment to Christ, our love for the Eucharist, our fervour in celebrating it, our devotion in adoring it and our zeal in offering it to our brothers and sisters, especially to the sick.  Jesus the High Priest continues personally to call new workers for his vineyard, but he wishes from the first to count on our active co-operation” (Letter, No 5).  “Your own witness counts more than anything else”.

             What I have said is valid also for Religious. It is very important for the Church, for the Diocese, that religious and communities of consecrated life get good vocations.  Their individual charisms were approved by the Church and their life is a precious gift from God which increases the holiness of God’s people, offers a very notable contribution to the spiritual life of the Diocese and of parishes, and invaluable assistance to priests.  If we meet young boys or girls, searching for or attracted to the religious or consecrated life of community, it should be our joy to direct, encourage and assist them.  Many of them are hungering for good guides on the path to holiness.  We, in the diocese, have experience of the immense spiritual benefits that both priests and lay faithful receive from the communities of men and women religious, consecrated to God and faithful to their charism.

            I thank all of you, brother priests, for your tireless and faithful service to the people of the diocese.  May these intense days of Holy Week reward you with choice blessings and new strength.  I pray for those among you who are ill or suffering from the burdens of old age.  And I thank all the good people who came here this morning to join us in this Solemn Eucharist.  Thank you for your prayers and for the support you give to your priests.  Continue to cherish them and make your homes places where your children can hear the call of God and follow it in their lives.

             May Our Lady, mother of our High Priest and Queen of Apostles, protect you all and obtain the grace of numerous and fervent vocations, generous followers of Christ and ministers of the altar.