Given at the Chrism Mass on 26th March 2024 at Westminster Cathedral.
Today, it is gratitude that flows through this solemn celebration of Mass and blessing of the holy oils. White vestments, full organ music, cheerfulness of spirit, a true celebration of faith. Thank you all!
Words full of joy and confidence come like a torrent from the reading from Isaiah and the Gospel passage we have heard: the Spirit of the Lord; the Good News; liberty; freedom; favour; comfort; praise! Even now these words, these promises, are being fulfilled in us as we open our hearts to the Lord and to the gifts he wishes to shower upon us all.
This is truly a Mass of thanksgiving for the faith we have received, for the calling to follow Jesus that directs our lives, for the service of others in which we find fulfilment and even for the sacrifices we make, both costly and, paradoxically, enriching, day by day.
The oils we bless bear witness to these gifts, indeed they are their outward and effective signs:
The oil of catechumens which marks the rebirth of faith in baptism, by which our eyes are opening to the graciousness of God and the beauty of all God has created;
The chrism used in confirmation which draws us into a deeper sense of the particular purpose for which we have been made, the developing sense of our personal vocation which shapes our pathway of discipleship and mission in our daily lives;
The same chrism used in presbyteral ordination giving its recipients the much-cherished mission of providing the life-giving Word and sacraments which feed and strengthen this life of faith;
The oil of the sick, perhaps the dramatic of all, enabling those living with pain and distress to be one with Christ in his self-offering and so contribute their suffering for the strengthening of us all in Christ.
This day we give thanks for these gifts. We thank God for every person who makes them visible, all of you, in the fabric of your daily lives, each according to the gifts you have received. This you do in the service you give, in the sacrifices you make, in all the ways in which you offer an invitation to others to come with you to know the Lord and his gracious mercy. This is your witness for which we all give thanks this day!
Today there is also a particular focus on the vocation to the priesthood and I thank the many priests of the diocese for their presence today. Your ministry is revered and loved by so many. You have been placed by the Lord to care for his people, feeding, forming, encouraging, freeing them truly to be the Church of Christ in the homes, neighbourhoods and streets of our diocese.
Please treasure the moments in which you have opportunities to expound the riches of faith by your teaching, preaching the Gospel and unfolding the doctrines of the Church.
Please be forthright in reminding your people of the dignity of their baptismal calling, its strengthening in Confirmation, the vocation they have received in the sacrament of marriage, their union with Christ when a time of suffering is upon them.
Please do all you can to encourage your people in practical service of others, especially those in need. This you do through so many initiatives which characterise the life of our parishes. I thank you most sincerely for this leadership in service.
And most importantly, every time you celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass invite people to bring their own sacrifices and sufferings, to unite them to those of Jesus, in his work of our salvation. We rightly bring our tears to the Mass. We hand them over to our Saviour to the glory of God the Father.
Service is fulfilled sacrifice. The Church is not a service provider, on a kind of heavenly contract for the supply of goods. Service is the nature of the life of faith. It strives not to count the cost and finds its fullest expression in every daily act of self-sacrifice made out of love.
This vocation to service and self-sacrifice is not easy. But we are resilient. Sacraments that we receive only once are not simply a moment, an event, through which we pass and leave behind. They are a gift of grace, and that grace comes to us afresh each day. As I rise in the morning, I am renewed by the grace of baptism, I am raised up again ready that day for my vocation of service and sacrifice.
Today is a moment for the public renewal of the commitment and the grace of priestly ordination. And so I ask everyone present here today to pray heartily for your priests, that as we renew the promises first made on the day of our ordination, so today that grace may be renewed in each one of us. Thank you!
But a final word, a word I find so wonderful. Recently I read again the last words spoken by the Martyr St Alban Roe as he was on the scaffold at Tyburn in 1642. As he stood awaiting the agony that was about to come upon him, he said: ‘I wish I had a thousand lives! I would sacrifice them all for this great cause!’ We have but one life. Let’s use it each day, with great thanksgiving, in our willing service of the Lord.
Amen.