Chrism Mass

by The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt

March 29, 20007

At that first Eucharist before you died,

          O Lord, you prayed that all be one in you;

          At this our Eucharist again preside,

          And in our hearts your law of love renew,

          O may we all one bread, one body be,

          Through this blest Sacrament of unity.

        At his general audience three weeks ago, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI gave a catechesis on St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the Apostolic Fathers who lived at the end of the first century.  The Pope noted that the saint’s irresistible desire for union with Christ and life in Him provided a foundation for a “true mysticism of unity.”  In the seven letters St. Ignatius wrote on his way to Rome, the bishop sets up, the Pope said, a “fruitful dialectic between two characteristic aspects of Christian life:  On the one hand, the hierarchical structure of the ecclesial community and, on the other, the fundamental unity that binds the faithful to one another in Christ.”  These two roles, the Pope explains, should not be seen in conflict with each other.  Rather, they should challenge us to “undertake a progressive synthesis” between our configuration to “Christ that is our immersion in his life and our commitment to his Church, which implies both unity with the bishop and generous service to the community and to the world.”  One line from the Holy Father’s teaching, I believe, is worth quoting:

“In other words, one must achieve a synthesis between communion of the church within itself and the mission of proclamation of the Gospel to others, until one dimension speaks through the other, and believers are evermore “in possession of that indivisible spirit that is Jesus Christ himself.”

I was indeed pleased to read the words of this papal catechetical instruction because in it the Pope states so clearly in one address what I have tried to preach these past six years at our annual Chrism Mass. 

This is the night when we, as bishop, priests, religious and laity gather as a local community of faith to reflect deeply upon . . .

“Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his Blood who has made us into a Kingdom, priests for his God and Father . . .” (Rev 1:5) 

The two great themes of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, are of course “communio” and “missio.”  And as the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II has taught us:  “Communion gives rise to mission, and mission is accomplished in communion.” (Christifidelis Laici, 32).  We cannot have one without the other.  And we must be working on each at the same time. 

This sentiment was, just this morning, reflected in our Office of Readings with its excerpt from Chapter 9 of the Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium.  In that passage, the Council Fathers state:

“This messianic people, then, though it does not in fact embrace all mankind and often seems to be a tiny flock, is yet the enduring source of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race.  It is established by Christ as a communion of life, of love and of truth; it is also used by him as an instrument for the redemption of all, and is sent out into the whole world as the light of the world and the salt of the earth.”  

Peter Herbeck, speaking at Pastoral Leader Days last month, said at one point that evangelization will only be effective if the message we preach is orthodox, which is to say, faithful to the truth that comes from Christ and has been handed down through the Magisterium of the Church.  If our preaching reflects our own ideas alone, it is a house built on sand.  But if it is truly founded on Christ, then it will prevail against the forces that seek to undermine it.  And, let’s face it, such forces do exist today, both within the Church as well as in the world around us. 

This is why it is so critical that we be united both in mind and in heart to this Holy Eucharist which we celebrate together in memory of Christ’s own gift to his Apostles and to us at the Last Supper.  For as we are nourished by Jesus, our Living Bread, and partake in the cup of our salvation, Christ dwells personally within us so that we may share His life and friendship.  In this union, Jesus invites us to give ourselves completely and entirely to Him.  And in turn, he heals our weaknesses, strengthens us to overcome temptation and empowers us to live lives of sacrificial love for one another in imitation of his self-giving love for us.  

But, at the same time as we become one with Christ, we are brought into closer unity with one another.  As St. Paul reminds us, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Cor 10:17). 

Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, expresses the same reality in this way:

“Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom He gives Himself.  I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to Him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, His own.  Communion draws me out of myself towards Him, and thus also towards unity with all Christians.  We become ‘one body’ completely joined in a single existence.  Love of God and love of neighbor are now truly united:  God incarnate draws us all to Himself.” (no.14)

This is the “spirituality of communion” that the late, beloved Pope John Paul II spoke about to the United States bishops on their 2004 ad Limina visit.  It is a “spirituality” because, in the very process of becoming one as the Body of Christ, each of us grows in that holiness which we find in our communion with Christ Jesus. 

In a unique and special way, by the grace of his ordination, a priest is expected to exercise leadership for calling those entrusted to his pastoral care to live out this spirituality of communion.  He does so by being a Good Shepherd who is willing to spend his life in care of the sheep.  As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, so the priest in many and varied ways serves his parishioners in that same spirit of selfless love.  As Jesus has done, so the priest and deacon must do.  My brother priests, as you renew the promises of your ordination before this congregation gathered here tonight, may you experience again the joy, the enthusiasm and the desire to minister in Christ’s name that you knew on your ordination day, but which I pray you experience ever more profoundly thanks to the intervening years of your priestly service.

BEGIN SPANISH . . .

Esta noche es una celebración muy especial para nuestra Iglesia local. En las palabras recientes de nuestro Papa Benedicto decimosexto, estamos celebrando la estructura jerárquica de nuestra comunidad eclesiástica y de la unidad fundamental que nos une como el Cuerpo de Cristo. Esto quiere decir que estamos celebrando ambos nuestra unión con Cristo quien viene a profesar al pobre, al cautivo, al ciego y al oprimido como nos dice en el evangelio, esta noche, así como esa unidad que se ubica precisamente en su relación con el obispo, como sucesor de los apóstoles. 

 Los aceites que esta noche serán bendecidos y consagrados, fortalecerán los aspectos de la vida de la Iglesia en la Ordenación del Clero (en particular de Diacono Paul Timmerman como sacerdote) y el de untar con óleo a los catecúmenos, a los bautizados, a los confirmados, a los enfermos y a los moribundos. De manera impresionante, estos aceites, fortalecerán nuestra estructura jerárquica y con compasión extender la mano a nuestro prójimo, preparándonos para la salvación por la que Jesús sufrió, murió y resucito a una vida nueva.

. . . END SPANISH

As Jesus committed himself in tonight’s Gospel to reaching out to the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed, may all of us here renew our baptismal pledge to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and will, and to love our neighbor as ourself.

  So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,

May we be one with all thy Church above,

One with thy saints in one unbroken peace,

One with thy saints in one unbounded love;

More blessed still in peace and love to be

One with the Trinity in unity.