Note to Editors: The Chrism Mass of the Archdiocese of Newark is held each year during Holy Week. During this Mass, the bishop sanctifies the oils used by the Church of Newark for the liturgical anointings of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders. Text of Homily by The Most Reverend Paul G. Bootkoski, VG, Administrator of the Archdiocese of Newark, at the Chrism Mass, Monday, April 9, 2001, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark Do we know why we have come? Are we catechumens or candidates, parishioners, parish volunteers, spectators or clergy, seekers or Religious? We are here to celebrate within our Church tradition the blessing of oils. So what? We humans seek signs and symbols to help us touch our God and He, in turn, to touch us, to be one with us, to be intimate with us. The problem is, we are so distracted, so busy, so consumed with the ways of our earth, our society, our culture that we are numbed to the reality of life and, most especially, to the reality of the spiritual life -- the Christ Life. Our lives are so consumed with the need to satisfy the demands of our society's philosophy of supply and demand that many of us don't know really why we are here. The marketplace is so enticing that we find ourselves rudderless in a sea of consumerism. We are pulled one way and then another. We must have this, and buy that. Everyone needs this or that gadget. We have succumbed to the evils of materialism, consumerism and narcissistic individualism. We live in a dog-eat-dog society that distracts us from the very reality of life and why we are here. Commitment is a foreign word and life is just a function to be performed. We individually and collectively are losing our identity as a person, as a community, as a member of the people of God, as a member of this Body of Christ and His Church. This happens not maliciously on our part, but slowly and insidiously through advertising, consumerism and the example and pressure of our fellow human beings. The attitude is that this is all good, all needed, all basic, all essential for our fulfillment in life. My brothers and sisters, we were not created by God to be a consumer or a worker to be bought and sold in the marketplace. We were created by God to be his daughters and sons living in freedom, not to be enslaved by materialism, the consumerism that surrounds us. Tonight is a wake-up call! We are Christians. We are Catholics. We have been baptized into Christ. We have been anointed with the Chrism of Salvation. We are his chosen ones. We have been called to a way of life that is based on Gospel living. We are counter-cultural, and we must realize this. We are called to live the Christ Life, to be able to make significant decisions about our lives and how we live them. My sisters and brothers, we are all living a vocation in Christ. We must become more aware of this, whether we are single, married, Religious or clergy. Our presence here speaks of this. We have all been anointed with the Oil of Catechumens, which strengthened us on our journey to baptism. We have all been baptized into Christ, and we were all anointed with the Chrism of Salvation. We are all marked persons: the Chosen of the New Testament, the Chosen of God. That pouring of water, that signing of the Crown of our heads, makes us special, makes us different. We are a Chosen Race, a Priestly People, a People Set Apart. We are the People of God. As lay people you are commissioned to make Christ real to your families and friends and in the marketplace by what you say, by what you do and more so by what you are. As Religious your witness value is irreplaceable by your living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. My brother deacons and brother priests in ministry, you make Jesus real and present by the way you reverently celebrate the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, especially by the way you proclaim the word of God, preach and teach it and, my brother priests, by the way you conduct the Eucharist. All of these vocations are absolutely essential to make the Body of Christ present to our world. We must always focus on our mission no matter what our vocation is. We must know our worth, our dignity as Catholics, for we truly are a Chosen People, a Holy People, a Priestly People, a People Set Apart, the Anointed of the Lord who are called
My sisters and brothers, let us know our worth, our dignity, our call, and may we always respond to it by how we live our lives. May we, as an anointed community this evening, pray that God's spirit will enter and dwell in the Oil of the Catechumens to strengthen them for the journey, in this Chrism to anoint all baptized Christians, all priests and bishops to show their chosen-ness, in the Oil of the Infirmed, to strengthen them spiritually, psychologically and, at times, physically. Let this be our prayer. Amen.
|
