Limerick Dioceses Chrism Mass 2019

The Annual Chrism Mass will take place on Wednesday 17th April at 7.30pm in St John’s Cathedral.

Bishop Brendan warmly invites parishioners from across the Diocese to join him for this Mass.

The Chrism Mass is the great annual gathering of the Diocese – lay faithful, religious, priests and Bishop, all gathered in the one Eucharist. Everyone renews their baptismal promises and the priests renew the promises made at Ordination. The sacred oils are blessed. It is always a joyful, moving ceremony of the People of God united with one another around the Bishop.

St. Ambrose commented that every Catholic should try and attend the Chrism Mass at least once in their life. Many attend each year. It is always a beautiful ceremony. It is a celebration that celebrates our Diocesan identity, encouraging one another, thanking God for the gifts of the sacraments and the gift of priestly ministry and a chance to renew our Christian identity as we move into the celebration of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday

The Chrism Mass will also be streamed live. You can view it HERE. 

Pope Francis celebrates the Chrism Mass in Rome

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated the Chrism Mass of the Rome diocese on the morning of Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The liturgy is held every year in every diocese, and is typically celebrated on the morning of Holy Thursday, with the clergy gathered around the bishop in a sign of unity.

It is called the “Chrism Mass” because it is during the liturgy that the sacred oils to be used in the Sacraments are blessed: the Oil of the Infirm, the Oil of the Catechumens, and the Sacred Chrism – which is used to anoint the newly baptized and in conferring Confirmation, and to consecrate priests and bishops to their special and peculiar divine service.

In his homily, Pope Francis spoke of the truth, mercy, and joy of the Gospel, which each priest is called to witness with his whole life: embodying and personifying each of the three characteristics.

“The truth of the good news can never be merely abstract, incapable of taking concrete shape in people’s lives because they feel more comfortable seeing it printed in books,” Pope Francis said.

“The mercy of the good news can never be a false commiseration, one that leaves sinners in their misery without holding out a hand to lift them up and help them take a step in the direction of change,” he continued.

“This message,” the Holy Father went on to say, “can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is completely personal – it is ‘the joy of the Father, who desires that none of his little ones be lost’,” and “the joy of Jesus, who sees that the poor have the good news preached to them, and that the little ones go out to preach the message in turn.”

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You can listen to Vatican Radio's report here and read the full text of the Pope's Chrism Mass homily here.

Limerick Diocese - Bishop Brendan Leahy Homily at the Chrism Mass

Limerick diocese gathered at St John's Cathedral on Wednesday evening to celebrate with Bishop Brendan Leahy the Chrism Mass. The liturgy is held every year in every diocese with the clergy gathered around the bishop in a sign of unity.

It is called the “Chrism Mass” because it is during the liturgy that the sacred oils to be used in the Sacraments are blessed: the Oil of the Infirm, the Oil of the Catechumens, and the Sacred Chrism – which is used to anoint the newly baptized and in conferring Confirmation, and to consecrate priests and bishops to their special and peculiar divine service.

You can listen to the homily of Bishop Brendan reflecting on the challenges of being a Roman Catholic in Ireland today - why is it that 78% of people in Ireland identify with the church today but don't participate and what does it mean for us as church? 

Podcast is available HERE.

Chrism Mass 2016 - Rome

On the morning of Holy Thursday, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Chrism at St Peter’s Basilica.

During the Holy Mass, the Holy Father blessed the sacred oils (Chrism, the oil of catechumens, and the oil of the sick), which will be used during the Easter Vigil, and in liturgical celebrations throughout the year.

In his homily during the Mass, Pope Francis once again on the theme of mercy, speaking especially of two areas in which the Lord shows “an excess of mercy”: in encounter, and in forgiveness.

Full text of Pope Francis homily at the Chrism Mass here.

Chrism Mass 2016 - Limerick

The Chrism Mass was held last night in St. John's Cathedral, Limerick at which the Oil of Baptism, Oil of the Sick and Chrism Oil are consecrated for the Diocese for 2016 and where the priests renew their promises.  The particular focus of this year's Chrism Mass was the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in this Year of Mercy. 

Bishop Brendan Leahy and Bishop Donal Murray

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Bishop Brendan extended a particularly welcome to those who give witness to what we refer to as the spiritual and corporal works of mercy in their personal and professional life. For instance, those working in the community/social service area along with the disability sector and those who assist others with acts by which we help our neighbours with their material, physical, moral and spiritual needs. Essentially those who help and are helped within our community.

As Bishop Brendan Leahy reminded us "when people met Jesus, they met mercy."  Bishop Brendan continued: "The highest form of love is mercy. Mercy isn’t just about forgiveness. We live in merciful love when we see, love and serve Jesus in one another." 

Pilgrims who regularly attend the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes bringing up the Oil of the Sick

Bishop Brendan again reminded us that merciful love is the only response to terrorism and fear:

"The corporal and spiritual works of mercy really matter. When we think of the terrorism we have seen in recent days, and the many conflicts of our world, the plight of the poor and the new forms of slavery around us, the situation of refugees and the destruction of the environment, we realise that our world will not be saved if the love that is merciful does not spread in our hearts, minds and lives. 

The instinct right after the horrific attacks in Brussels might, understandably, be to pull back and close in on ourselves out of fear. But that would merely give in to people behind such attacks, people who merely want separation, mistrust and fear. If anything now is the time to increase our corporal and spiritual works of mercy, opening up in a new way to people, not least to the migrants whose culture we don’t know."

The full text of Bishop Brendan's homily is well worth reading and is available HERE.

The Chrism Mass was a signed Mass and accessible to the Deaf Community. The Hands in Harmony Deaf Community Choir whose Facebook page is available HERE gave a special performance at the end of the Chrism Mass, which again is well worth a look. The video of the Chrism Mass is available HERE. 

Holy Thursday with Pope Francis in Rome 2015

Chrism Mass in Rome - Pope Francis to priests: Christ is our strength in ministry

From Vatican Radio - Pope Francis celebrated the Chrism Mass on Thursday morning in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Chrism Mass is the liturgy in which the oils – of the infirm, of the catechumens, and the sacred chrism – are blessed for use in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick, throughout the year. It is also an occasion on which bishops traditionally reflect on the nature of priestly ministry, with the priests of their diocese.

ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty
Pope Francis blows in an amphora containing holy oil
during a Chrism mass for Holy Thursday
on April 2, 2015 at St Peter's basilica

In his homily, Pope Francis focused on three particular forms of weariness that can affect priests, especially, in their lives: the weariness of the crowd, which the Holy Father described as, “[A] good and healthy tiredness,” which is “the exhaustion of the priest who wears the smell of the sheep… but also smiles the smile of a father rejoicing in his children or grandchildren.” ; the weariness of enemies – a particular danger, since, “The evil one is far more astute than we are, and he is able to demolish in a moment what it took us years of patience to build up, so that priests must take heart in the words of the Lord, “Have courage!  I have overcome the world! (Jn. 16:33)”; and, weariness of oneself, which arises when the priest loses sight of the truth that his work is – first and last – a labour of love, for which Pope Francis counsels, “Only love gives true rest,” adding, “what is not loved becomes tiresome, and in time, brings about a harmful weariness.”

The Holy Father concluded his reflection with a reminder that priests, too, are disciples of Christ with a special vocation within the Church, saying that, when priests remember that Christ loved all of us first, and loved us to the end, “Our discipleship itself is cleansed by Jesus, so that we can rightly feel ‘joyful’, ‘fulfilled’, ‘free of fear and guilt’, and impelled to go out ‘even to the ends of the earth, to every periphery.’  In this way we can bring the good news to the most abandoned, knowing that ‘he is with us always, even to the end of the world.’”

You can read the full homily HERE.

Pope Francis celebrates In Coena Domini Mass at Rebibbia prison

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday evening celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper at Rome's Rebibbia prison.  The Mass was also attended by inmates at a nearby women's detention centre.  During the Mass Pope Francis washed the feet of 6 men and 6 women, including one mother holding her small child in her lap.

During his off-the-cuff homily, Pope Francis focused on the passage of the Gospel reading which said "He loved His own in the world, and He loved them until the end."

"He loves us without limits, until the end," Pope Francis said.  "He never tires of loving....He loves all of us, so that he would even give his own life for us." Pope Francis pointed at individual inmates and said, Jesus gave his life "for you, for you, for you, for me...for everyone, first name and last name. His love is like this...so personal."

The Holy Father told them God "never tires of loving, as he never tires of embracing us." Quoting Isaiah, Pope Francis said: "God's love has no limits – 'Even if a mom forgets her child, I won't forget you.' That's God's love for us."

During the Rite of the Washing of the Feet, several of the inmates cried as the Pope washed their feet.  One woman detainee from Africa was holding her young child, and the Pope washed his feet, too.

Earlier in his homily, the Pope has said in the time of Jesus, washing feet was the work of a slave. "Jesus is so loving, that he became a slave to serve us, to heal us, to cleanse us," said Pope Francis. "I also need to be cleansed by the Lord," he said. "And for this, pray during this Mass, so that the Lord also washes my sins and stains, too, so that I become more slave-like in the service of people as Jesus did."

Pope Francis homily from Zenit.

Chrism Mass 2015 - Bishop Brendan Leahy's homily

Marking the Year of Consecrated Life, the Mass of Chrism for the diocese of Limerick was celebrated this evening in the Redemptorist Church, Mount St. Alphonsus, Limerick.  

In what was a music filled and inspiring liturgy, the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick and Holy Chrism, which will be used in the sacraments throughout the Diocese for the next year, were consecrated and the priests of the diocese renewed their priestly promises made at ordination. 

During the Mass, Bishop Brendan payed tribute to the contribution of the consecrated women and men and their immense contribution to the life of the diocese and the city and county of Limerick especially in the areas of education and health care.

Reflecting on the fact that the count down has truly begun to Synod 2016, Bishop Brendan reminded us of how we are all a missionary Church and that each of us is consecrated for this mission:

Chrism Mass 2015

Mount St. Alphonsus Church, Limerick

Homily

Bishop Brendan Leahy

This year’s celebration of the Chrism Mass is taking place one year before we are due to assemble for our Diocesan Synod. The countdown begins; the clock is ticking; the first synod in our diocese for our seventy years is fast approaching. Our preparation across the Diocese for the Synod has to be the priority for us all at this stage.

I have been very heartened to hear of the many and varied approaches to consultation throughout the diocese both in relation to our own Synod and the Roman Synod on marriage and the family. I thank all who are contributing so generously. Recently I have met with groups of the young church of the diocese, including a parish youth council. It was wonderful to see their interest, their honest and direct engagement, their youthful questions.

The Chrism Mass each year is a moment when a diocese renews its commitment to mission. How much more so this year as we begin the countdown to the Synod. 

Today’s Gospel and the Synod

Today’s liturgy puts before us the Gospel episode of Jesus proclaiming his mission statement in the Synagogue. It’s very appropriate for us on the Synod journey! Notice a few details. The Evangelist reminds us that Jesus comes to Nazareth, the place he had been brought up. So everyone knows him. He’s been a good observant Jew. He’s lived there for thirty years. He’s never been trouble to anyone! They had heard a few rumours of change recently but really it’s as if we are being told they didn’t see the extent of the change coming. When they thought about Jesus, they thought about familiarity and custom, routine and the way things always were. After all, for thirty years it had been like that. 

But suddenly the scene changes. Notice where the change starts. Within a gathering of his people (and here we see the importance of Tradition), Jesus is given a book – the book of Scriptures. He reads a radical section from the prophet Isaiah. Notice the first words of the Scripture passage: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. Jesus has come to shake things up. And it is the Spirit who will do it. How? By pushing Jesus out to “preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recover sight to the blind, deliver those who are oppressed.” Notice again that Jesus doesn’t come to tell others what they should do. He applies the message from Scripture and about the working of the Spirit of renewal that is to come to his people, and about outreach to others, first and foremost to himself. He is the prophet who is being made new for a new prophetic mission. He will fulfil, he himself will live the message he wants to bring.

There’s a lot here we can take for our Synod journey – the importance of the Word of God in Scripture and Tradition, the centrality of the Spirit of renewal, the urgency to make a new choice to reach out to peripheries, the essential need for renewal to begin with ourselves, living at a deeper level, each one of us personally and as a community.

Inspired by the Word of God, we are called to be Jesus, to continue his mission. We are to be his hands and feet and voice. But we cannot be Jesus on our own efforts. We rely on the Spirit of the Lord. 

Three Ways the Spirit consecrates us

That’s why this evening it is good for us to recall with gratitude that the Spirit comes to our help. The Spirit consecrates his people for mission so as to be inserted more deeply, more divinely, more dramatically into the world around us. This evening we are celebrating three ways the Spirit consecrates us as a people.

Baptismal Priesthood. First of all, let’s recall that in baptism the Spirit consecrates us in a new life in Christ. We become sharers in Jesus Christ’s own priesthood. As the Second Reading puts it, Jesus “loved us all, washed us from our sins by his blood; and made us into a Kingdom, priests for his God and Father”. That applies to all the baptised. How often people are surprised to hear that in baptism they have been consecrated priests, prophets and kings. The grace we have to pray for this Synod is that we will all grow in a deeper understanding of our baptismal vocation that has made us “other Christs” in our world today. This will require a deeper engagement with the Word of God, openness to the Spirit and renewed outreach to others. 

Here I might recall what Fr. Paul Philibert who spoke at our first gathering of the delegates said: it is important for all the baptised to appreciate we are not simply clients of an ecclesiastical franchise. It’s not enough to be observers of sacred, sacramental rites performed for our inspiration and spiritual comfort. We are called to be active members of a living community that is sent to bring Good News to others. We are called to work in constructing a credible sign of Christ-alive today in our world. 

I recall a woman I knew years ago going to Rome and seeing Pope John Paul who at that time was quite frail. She said that until then she had seen the Church as a big organisation with officials and a CEO and it was all “out there”. Suddenly it dawned on her that the Pope was just one man. He was frail. He needed her contribution. And then, she said, she came to a whole new realisation that she too was the Church.

Consecrated Life. Then there’s another way the Spirit consecrates his people. It is a way we are celebrating especially this year. I am referring to the consecration that comes about through those women and men who have dedicated their lives to God in Religious Life. They are shaped by charisms the Spirit has poured out upon their foundresses and founders for the benefit of the whole Church. This year Pope Francis wants us to remember them especially as we celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. 

Charisms are gifts of the Holy Spirit that open up windows onto the Gospel, showing us how to live the Gospel from particular angles. Consecrated men and women, gifted with these charisms, are called to be prophets, showing how Jesus lived on earth and proclaiming how the Kingdom of God will be. Pope Francis says simple, “A religious must never give up prophesying”. 

Just a few days ago we had a wonderful gathering of the religious of our diocese. It was a chance to express thanks for all that the religious have contributed to the Diocese of Limerick in education and healthcare, outreach to the marginalised and care of the poor. How much poorer Limerick diocese, Limerick city and each of us would be without the witness and generosity of generations of consecrated women and men in our diocese!

In his talk at that gathering, Bishop Donal Murray remarked “Our question is not whether religious can apply the legacy of our past to the context of today, but how the Holy Spirit, who inspired the founders and foundresses, the same Spirit who is with us and in us, is inspiring us to live that legacy. The first step lies in being open, like the people who founded your institutes, to hope when hope is crazy, ready to see the Spirit’s action in the most unlikely people and places.”

Charisms endure even when various apostolic works decline. With their charisms, the consecrated women and men of our diocese are called to “wake up the world, illuminate it” with their “prophetic and countercultural witness”. And here again the Word plays a central place. 

As we approach the Synod, I believe the consecrated men and women will have a very important role to play in helping us in the dynamics of discernment. They have lived through years of change and renewal within their congregations. In a sense, they are specialists among us of how it is we hear the voice of the Lord in the midst of the clamour of many competing claims and counterclaims.

Ordained Ministry. The third way the Holy Spirit consecrates his people is through the service of priests who are ordained in the sacred ministry at the service of the priesthood of all the faithful and at the service of the charisms and many forms of consecrated life in our diocese. 

Priests form a presbyterate together. One of the aspects that I appreciate in our priests in Limerick is their mutual friendship and support. It is a particularly consoling aspect to realise how much our priests do support one another in varied ways. One of the greatest joys for me is the gatherings of priests we have from time to time. 

This evening we remember the priests who have died during the year, especially Fr. Michael Lane whose funeral liturgy we will celebrate tomorrow morning.

The fruitfulness of our ministry is in relation to how we see our service as an expression of the one presbyterate. As we prepare for the Synod it is important for us to encourage and help each other in welcoming what Pope Francis calls “God’s surprises” in the new things the Spirit wants to do in our time. 

I was struck recently by a line I read, “history is tempted to preserve more things than can ever be used” (Keep Watch, n. 10). We are moving forward. In front of us are new frontiers, new realities and this means new ways of ministry in our diocese. In many ways, priests are undergoing a ministerial conversion. We are learning a new way of ministering. It requires letting go of what does not need to be preserved and letting in what needs to come.

Priests are gatekeepers. On them depends much of how the wider people of the diocese will enter into the way God wants the Church today to be. We must pray for the grace during this time of Synod preparation that we priests will be gatekeepers who know how to keep the gates open, serving people also by facilitating their encounter with the Spirit today. It isn’t easy. It involves the Cross. There can be tensions and uncertainties, challenges and weariness. But the year ahead is a year of grace. It is offered to us to be as creative as we can in reaching out in dialogue with as many as possible so that many will come to a deeper awareness of the life of the Church.

At this Chrism Mass, then, let’s thank the Holy Spirit for the ways he has consecrated our diocese, making us fit to continue Jesus in our world. He wants to shake things up! 

Let’s thank the Spirit especially for the presence of the consecrated women and men in our diocese. Let’s entrust our Synod journey to the Spirit, the Creator God, Father of the poor, giver of gifts, light of our hearts.

Vocation Sunday - reminding all Christians of the "joy of the priesthood"

iBenedictines have a reflection today on "Praying for Vocations" and in it she suggests that we should all read Pope Francis homily at the Chrism Mass in Rome during Holy Week 2014. It is an excellent suggestion as it is a reflection of the "joy of the priesthood" and should be reflected on by everyone - perhaps as a lectio this Vocation Sunday.

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"Anointed with the oil of gladness"

Dear Brother Priests,

 

In the eternal “today” of Holy Thursday, when Christ showed his love for us to the end (cf. Jn 13:1), we recall the happy day of the institution of the priesthood, as well as the day of our own priestly ordination. The Lord anointed us in Christ with the oil of gladness, and this anointing invites us to accept and appreciate this great gift: the gladness, the joy of being a priest. Priestly joy is a priceless treasure, not only for the priest himself but for the entire faithful people of God: that faithful people from which he is called to be anointed and which he, in turn, is sent to anoint.

 

Anointed with the oil of gladness so as to anoint others with the oil of gladness. Priestly joy has its source in the Father’s love, and the Lord wishes the joy of this Love to be “ours” and to be “complete” (Jn 15:11). I like to reflect on joy by contemplating Our Lady, for Mary, the “Mother of the living Gospel, is a wellspring of joy for God’s little ones” (Evangelii Gaudium, 288). I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that priest is very little indeed: the incomparable grandeur of the gift granted us for the ministry sets us among the least of men. The priest is the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians unless the Good Shepherd strengthens him in the midst of the flock. No one is more “little” than a priest left to his own devices; and so our prayer of protection against every snare of the Evil One is the prayer of our Mother: I am a priest because he has regarded my littleness (cf. Lk 1:48). And in that littleness we find our joy.

 

For me, there are three significant features of our priestly joy. It is a joy which anoints us (not one which “greases” us, making us unctuous, sumptuous and presumptuous), it is a joy which is imperishable and it is a missionary joy which spreads and attracts, starting backwards – with those farthest away from us.

Homily of Bishop Brendan Leahy - Chrism Mass 2014

Chrism Mass,

St. Joseph’s Church, Limerick,

16.4.2014

 

 

In a few moments, the priests who are present will be renewing their priestly promises. In doing so, they will recall their ordination day. In the past year I have enjoyed discovering on various occasions aspects of the life and ministry of the priests of this diocese. It has been like a game of placing tiles in a mosaic as I realise such and such a priest was in this or that parish years ago, or had established such and such an initiative, or has had this or that story in common with others. It has brought home to me again how each priest’s life is a world that would be difficult to capture in all its variety and depth of experience.

It is touching to see the affection people have for priests. How often I have been told that I am not to move Fr….  “You’re going to be leaving him here with us, won’t you…?”. The “won’t you” has various degrees of tone to it…  It is indeed a tribute to the priests of the diocese that there is such affection. I have been very impressed by how close people feel to them. Any public event I attend I meet people who very easily talk to me of priests they know and esteem.

Priests live as people “sent” by the Lord, as the First Reading and the Gospel put it. They have brought good news to the poor, they have bound up hearts that are broken. They have proclaimed the message of liberty. How many who are mourning have been comforted by priests! How much new sight has been communicated through Jesus’ teachings proclaimed week in, week out around the diocese! I want to express my profound gratitude to the priests of the diocese of Limerick.

This evening, in the context of renewing priestly promises, let’s take it as an occasion to savour those moments in the life and ministry of priests when we felt a particular closeness to God, those moments when the zeal of mission was especially alive for us. Spiritual teachers recommend that we re-visit those moments in order to rekindle the fire in our hearts.

But the renewal of promises is also about starting out again with renewed vigour and zeal. In doing so, let’s heed the words of Pope Francis in his letter, The Joy of the Gospel when he says, ‘Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel’. For each of us, it’s a question and a stimulus – what are the peripheries to which I can reach out more?

Because we are called to be instruments of joy in the world. So many of our contemporaries are searching for happiness and joy and don’t know where to find it. I was at a youth gathering some weeks ago when someone quoted John Lennon: ‘When I was five years old my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy” and they told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.’

Yes, people want happiness. And Pope Francis invites us to hear again the Gospel of Joy in our own lives and to communicate it generously. As he puts it, we have joy the more we stop trying to be in charge of ourselves and let ourselves be taken into the adventure of leaving security on the shore and becoming excited by the mission of communicating life and joy to others.

No one can deny that in the rapidly changing circumstances of today’s world, priests can find themselves buffeted by the various storms that arise in their ministry. We know only too well of how many innocent people have suffered terrible darkness because of clerical abuse. As I said on the day of my ordination and since then, at Masses celebrated for them, I want to make their pain my own and seek forgiveness seventy times seven. It is a deep wound for all of us.

And yet, despite the storms, research shows that most priests are profoundly fulfilled in their ministry. It’s a message we need to shout from the rooftops. Every life has its challenges but there is a joy that persists in following God also along the road of priesthood.

Our priestly vocation is, yes, to be without a specific family because of celibacy, but it is in order to be builders together of the bigger family of God and in that there is deep satisfaction and happiness. We need to let others know that in offering our humanity as a gift to the Risen Christ, he has extended our heart to a new fatherhood, a new spiritual paternity, a new universal love that the Second Reading points to. And that’s why we need not be afraid to appeal to young men who may feel this calling, to follow the vocation to be a priest. It is an adventure of life that can bring deep joy, a joy the world does not know.

So this evening, as we renew our priestly promises, let’s give witness to the hope that is within us. We have been called and anointed with a mission. Jesus Christ “loves us and washes away our sins” as the Second Reading tells us. It is in the Crucified, pierced Christ that we find our deepest inspiration. He reached all the peripheries of existence and from there generated the Church.

The Risen Christ, the Alpha and Omega of history, invites us too in this moment of history to renew the gift of our humanity to him so that today too he may reach the peripheries through our reaching out and our closeness to others as well as our compassion and perseverance.

Let’s be thankful for our vocation, and in a spirit of gratitude, renew our priestly promises, knowing that we have a mother, Mary, who will pray that our promises may be ratified in heaven.

Holy Thursday - Chrism Mass - UPDATED

Vatican Radio

In a series of reflections, the Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, walks Vatican Radio through the Holy Week liturgies, explaining their significance, symbolism and place within the history of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

He begins with the Chrism Mass, the first of the liturgies Holy Thursday morning, that leads us towards Easter.

You can listen to the report from Vatican Radio HERE.

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Limerick's diocesan Chrism Mass was held on Wednesday night in St Joseph's Church in Limerick which was + Brendan's first Chrism Mass as bishop of the diocese.

The Chrism Mass for the diocese of Rome presided over by Pope Francis is being held in St Peter's Basilica this morning and you can watch a live stream HERE.

You can learn more about the Chrism Mass here, here and here

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On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis celebrated the Chrism Mass, where he blessed the Holy Oils used in the several Sacraments, including the ordination of priests. This particular moment was the theme of his homily. The Pope said that, upon their ordination, all priests are anointed with the "oil of joy.”

"Priestly joy is a priceless treasure, not only for the priest himself but for the entire people of God: those faithful for which the priest is called to be anointed, and which he, in turn, is sent to anoint.”


In defining what priestly joy is, the Pope listed three main points. The first is that it comes from deep within, from the moment priests are ordained and anointed with holy oil. The second is that joy is never-ending, and can also be renewed. The third point, he said, is that priestly joy is missionary at heart.

"Our anointing is done to anoint God’s holy and faithful people: for baptizing and confirming them, healing and sanctifying them, blessing, comforting and evangelizing them.”

Pope Francis said this connection between a priest and his flock is essential. And that in times of boredom or sadness, a priest can find joy within his congregation. He referred to it as a "protected joy,” guarded by the congregation, and by its "sisters”: poverty, loyalty and obedience.

A priest is materially poor, the Pope explained, so instead he seeks joy in God, and his people. But in order to do so, he asked them to "go out” from themselves, and among the people of God, who gives the priests purpose and identity.

"If you don't go out from yourself, the holy oil grows rancid and the anointing cannot be fruitful. Going out from ourselves presupposes self-denial; it means poverty.”


The Pope added that priests must also be loyal to the "living Church,” made up of his "spiritual children,” which include the children he's baptized, the sick he's tended to, and the people he helps.

He also stressed the obedience all priests must have to the Church, but especially the Church's mission to be there, with arms open, for all.

"Wherever God’s people have desires or needs, there is the priest, who knows how to listen and feels a loving mandate from Christ, who sends him to relieve that need with mercy or to encourage those good desires with resourceful charity.”


To conclude his homily, Pope Francis called on Christ to preserve the joy of newly ordained priest, to confirm the joy of experienced priests, and make better known the joy of elderly priests.

You can read the full text of Pope Francis homily HERE.

Limerick Diocese Chrism Mass - Wednesday 27th March

Last night the Diocese of Limerick gathered together in St. John's Cathedral to celebrate the Chrism Mass led by the Papal Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Charles Brown.  As the See had been sede vacante, this was the first Chrism Mass celebrated in the Diocese since 2009.  It was a beautiful, joyful liturgy in which the priests of the Diocese renewed their priestly promises.  During the Mass the oil of the sick and the oil of catechumens were blessed and the Chrism was consecrated.  These holy oils will be used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and the Anointing of the Sick in our diocese for the next year.  On April 14th, the Chrism oil will be used to anoint and consecrate our Bishop Elect, Fr. Brendan Leahy, during his episcopal ordination. 

Archbishop Charles Brown gave a wonderful catechesis on the holy oils and chrism, linking them with the nature of the Church and her priorities.  The full text of his homily is as follows:

Homily for the Chrism Mass,
Cathedral of Saint John, Limerick

Archbishop Charles J Brown,
Apostolic Nuncio

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this holy liturgy, in keeping with the most ancient tradition of the Church, a Bishop blesses or consecrates three different forms of holy oil: the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens, and Holy Chrism. The fact that the Church blesses these oils during Holy Week, the most sacred period of the liturgical year, tells us something important about the nature of the Church herself and about her priorities. Let us reflect on this fact for a moment. The first oil to be blessed tonight will be the Oil of the Sick, which is used in the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and dying. For most of us, it is the last sacrament we will receive on this earth before we go to God. The Oil of the Sick reminds us that the sick, the suffering and the dying are at the centre of the Church and are at the very heart of her service. Our final sacramental anointing with the Oil of the Sick gives us strength to pass from this world to the life of the world to come, and there is nothing more important than that.

The second oil to be blessed will be the Oil of Catechumens, which is used at the beginning of the celebration of Baptism as part of the prayers of the Church to protect us from the spirit of evil, the father of lies. In fact, the Oil of Catechumens will be used almost exclusively to anoint babies as part of the celebration of Baptism. So already with these two forms of holy oil – the Oil of the sick and the Oil of Catechumens – we understand something about the Church and her priorities. We see human life near its beginning and near its end. Who are the recipients of these anointings? Who is the focus of the Church’s care and concern? The sick, the suffering, small children. It is here that we see the Kingdom of God emerging. Not among the dominant and the powerful of this world, but among the smallest and the weakest, the ones who don’t count for much in the eyes of the world. They are the presence of Christ. Jesus is very clear in the Gospel: “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Mother Teresa of Calcutta used to say that the Gospel – that is, the message of Jesus – is very simple. Five words, spoken by him about the least of his brothers and sisters: “You did it to me”. Pope Francis has reminded us of this truth in a powerful way in these two weeks since his election as the Successor of Peter: “Let us never forget that that authentic power is service…” (Homily, 19 March 2013). He has spoken about the duty of the Church to protect the most vulnerable, “especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew [in his Gospel] lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46).” Yes, the Church must protect the smallest and most vulnerable. In our own time, we must surely think of expectant mothers and of the gift of life, the vulnerable child in the womb. We as Catholics must be absolutely committed to protecting and defending mothers and their unborn babies.

But in our Mass this evening we do not bless only two oils. There is a third, and its importance is reflected in the name that the Church gives to tonight’s liturgy: the Chrism Mass, because it is here at this moment that the Church consecrates the Holy Chrism, which is similar to the other two oils just mentioned, but with a difference. It contains balsam as well as olive oil, giving it a beautiful and lasting fragrance. Our word for this aromatic oil, Chrism, comes from the Greek language and simply means anointing; it is the same root in Greek that is used to translate the Hebrew word Messiah, which means the Anointed One, the one who has been anointed. This is, of course, how we refer to Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ. Christ and Chrism; Anointed and anointing. In Jesus of Nazareth, anointing is directed toward service: “The Spirit of the Lord…has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,…to captives, [to] the downtrodden” (cf. Lk 4:18).
The Chrism that is sanctified tonight is used by the Church in the principal sacraments of consecration. Most fundamentally, Chrism is used in Baptism. After we are washed from our sins in the Baptismal water, we are immediately anointed by the priest with Chrism, signifying that we belong to Christ, that we, as baptised persons, share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly nature. To be called a Christian literally means that each of us, like him, has been chrismated, has been Christened, has been anointed with Holy Chrism. It means that each of us, by virtue of our Baptism, is called to a life of holiness by means of God’s grace. It means that we too have a special responsibility to care for the least of our brothers and sisters. In that sense, there is no distinction in the Church; “For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ; there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:27-28). All of us share in his anointing; all of us are called to holiness. Chrism is also used in the consecration of a church, the building in which all of us as brothers and sisters in Christ worship God our Father. The walls of the church are anointed with Holy Chrism. And similarly, the altar. Every altar on which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be celebrated is itself anointed with Holy Chrism.

Chrism is used in the celebration of the sacrament of ordination as well, the sacrament by which certain men are configured to Christ in order to serve his Church as priests and bishops. In the sacrament of priestly ordination, a young man’s hands are anointed with Chrism, so that as a priest he might “sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God” (Ritual of Ordination). This evening, we thank God for priests and, in a special way, for the priests serving in the Diocese of Limerick. In a few moments, they will renew the promises they made on the day of their ordination, the day on which their hands were anointed with Chrism so that they would bring Christ to us through their service; indeed, so that they themselves would be images of Christ for us.

If I could speak from my own personal experience of being your Nuncio for the last fourteen months, I have been tremendously edified by the example of the priests of Ireland. From Killarney to Belfast, from Limerick to Derry, I have been profoundly grateful for the opportunity to visit parishes and to meet priests, who have made a deep and lasting impression on me. Is it always easy to be a priest in Ireland today? No. It is not. But there are countless priests living their vocations with courage, generosity and joy, sometimes in the midst of difficulties and trials. To them, to our priests, this evening we say thanks. And surely there are young men listening to me tonight to whom Christ is saying: “Come, follow me” (Mt 14:9) – young men whom Christ is calling to be priests. What would I say to such a young person?: Listen to the Lord. Put you trust in Him. To serve Him and His people as a priest is an adventure of grace which corresponds to the deepest desires of your heart. Do not be afraid!

Finally, Sacred Chrism is not only used in the ordination of priests, it is also used in the ordination of bishops. The priest’s hands are anointed with Chrism so that he may serve the Church through his ministry; the bishop’s head is anointed so that he can serve the Church by his leadership. “Let us never forget that that authentic power is service” (Pope Francis).
In less than three weeks from today, the Chrism that we consecrate tonight will be used here in this beautiful Cathedral to ordain Father Brendan Leahy as Bishop of Limerick, as successor to Bishop Donal Murray. It will be a day of great rejoicing here in this Church and in this Diocese. Bishop-elect Leahy will be the first bishop ordained in Ireland in the Pontificate of Pope Francis – and (if my calculations are correct) the eighth bishop ordained in the entire world under our new Holy Father. Let us all pray for Bishop-elect Leahy as he makes his final preparations for his ordination. As we approach that day, I also want to say a word of sincere gratitude and appreciation to Father Tony Mullins, who has served you as Diocesan Administrator of Limerick for these past three years. I know that I speak for everyone in the Cathedral this evening when I say thank you to Father Mullins for his tireless and generous service to the Church in Limerick.

With the election of Pope Francis, a new and exciting chapter in the Church’s life opens up before us. The Holy Father’s humility, simplicity and transparent goodness have touched our hearts and the hearts of the entire world. Let us pray to Our Lady for Pope Francis, asking her to intercede for him. And let us all recommit ourselves tonight to live our own vocations with love and faithfulness, confident that the Lord is with us and that, with His grace, all things are possible (cf. Mt 19:26).

Amen

*****

The Recessional Hymn for the Chrism Mass was Now Thank We All Our God.  The volume, joy and enthusiasm with which this hymn was sung in thankful praise of God filled the cathedral and indeed filled the hearts of all who were present.

Chrism Mass - Pope Francis - A challenge to his priests

From Vatican Radio -  Below please find the official text of Pope Francis’ Homily for Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday 2013:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning I have the joy of celebrating my first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Rome. I greet all of you with affection, especially you, dear priests, who, like myself, today recall the day of your ordination.

The readings of our Mass speak of God’s “anointed ones”: the suffering Servant of Isaiah, King David and Jesus our Lord. All three have this in common: the anointing that they receive is meant in turn to anoint God’s faithful people, whose servants they are; they are anointed for the poor, for prisoners, for the oppressed… A fine image of this “being for” others can be found in the Psalm: “It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down upon the collar of his robe” (Ps 133:2). The image of spreading oil, flowing down from the beard of Aaron upon the collar of his sacred robe, is an image of the priestly anointing which, through Christ, the Anointed One, reaches the ends of the earth, represented by the robe.

The sacred robes of the High Priest are rich in symbolism. One such symbol is that the names of the children of Israel were engraved on the onyx stones mounted on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, the ancestor of our present-day chasuble: six on the stone of the right shoulder-piece and six on that of the left (cf. Ex 28:6-14). The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were also engraved on the breastplate (cf. Es 28:21). This means that the priest celebrates by carrying on his shoulders the people entrusted to his care and bearing their names written in his heart. When we put on our simple chasuble, it might well make us feel, upon our shoulders and in our hearts, the burdens and the faces of our faithful people, our saints and martyrs of whom there are many in these times…

Chrism Mass - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin - 28th March 2013

 
 

CHRISM MASS 2013

Homily Notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin

Archbishop of Dublin

Pro Cathedral, 28^th March 2013

"Pope Francis continues to surprise us day after day. I spoke to a friend of mine working in the Vatican who is in close contact with the Pope and asked him how he would describe the atmosphere in the Vatican under Pope Francis and he summed it up saying: “surprises and more surprises and even more surprises to come” and my friend is one of those who is pleased with the surprises he is seeing. We thank God for a Pope who has the interior freedom to surprise us. We thank God for a Pope who shows us that simplicity and humility are not signs of weakness and concession, but signs of strength and signs of a strength that comes from faith.

Pope Francis has given us some very significant signs and gestures about how he understands his role as Bishop of Rome and successor of Saint Peter. But they are not just signs about himself; they are signs about what the Church means. He does not want us just to look at these gestures on television and feel good about them and feel good that we have a new Pope like him. There are many who have no belief who will like the new Pope. There is not much good, however, in Christians feeling good about the new Pope if we do not make our own what he is saying and teaching and doing.

The first thing that this involves is allowing Jesus to surprise us and for us to find the courage to change. We are at a critical juncture in the history of the Catholic Church in this diocese and in our country. We are at critical juncture about the place of the Catholic Church in Irish society and in the future culture of Ireland. And we are at a critical juncture about the very place of faith and the very understanding of faith within the Catholic community.

Diocese of Limerick Holy Oils Service - Meditation No. 3 - Br. Martin Browne OSB

Diocese of Limerick Holy Oil's Service
Meditation No. 3.
Br Martin Browne OSB
St John's Cathedral, Limerick
April 4th 2012

Even when we are at our most hard-hearted – cold, stubborn, closed, hard-necked – our skin remains porous. The call throughout Lent has been that we harden not our hearts. For the call to conversion we make during Lent is about resisting the ever-present temptation to harden our hearts. But we can’t harden our skin… Not all of it, at least. 

We might get cracked heels or blisters on our feet, and we may get callouses or welts on our hands from hard physical work, but by and large, our skin is porous. We sweat. (Though I’m told by some that only horses sweat… Men perspire, and ladies ‘glow’, but you get the idea.) And we absorb through our skin too. If you chop garlic today and it gets on your fingers, not matter how much washing and scrubbing you do, chances are that you will still be able to smell it off your hands tomorrow. We absorb through our skin.

But I don’t want to spend the rest of the evening talking about unpleasant odours like sweat and foul-smelling garlic…. If we go back to that aromatherapist I mentioned earlier, when he or she makes up the mix for the massage, putting drops of various essential oils into the base oil – just like in Exodus – the result is a mix that will soak into the skin, leaving it soft and fragrant. Likewise with the endless varieties of balms, lotions and moisturisers which people use to take care of their skin these days.

There’s something of this in anointing too. When someone is anointed, the oil passes from the skin to the body. The oil warms the muscles, making them malleable and agile. Just like an athlete rubs liniments like Ralgex or Wintergreen Oil into the body, sacramental anointing is a form of Deep Heat… Deep Spiritual Heat….

The athlete uses ointments to condition the body before some task or challenge. To limber it up and get it ready for the efforts that are to follow. Likewise, the Church uses the Oil of the Catechumens to strengthen those preparing for Baptism on their journey of conversion. And the Church uses the Holy Chrism, to strengthen the baptised and the ordained for the mission they have in the Church. The athlete uses ointments and liniments to help the body recover after vigorous activitytoo – to loosen up what has become stiff or sore, to heal what has become worn or tired. And likewise, the Church anoints the sick and the aged, as well as those who are on the point of death, to soothe and console them and bring them Christ’s healing and peace.

Diocese of Limerick Holy Oils Service - Meditation No. 2 - Br Martin Browne OSB

Diocese of Limerick Holy Oil's Service

Meditation No. 2.
Br Martin Browne OSB

St John's Cathedral

April 4th 2012

I saw some pictures on the internet last night of the Chrism Mass in Westminster Cathedral in London. It was a grand occasion. Archbishop Nichols, his predecessor, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, several auxiliary bishops, and over 300 priests, all attired in very elegant, new, matching chasubles, designed to pick up some of the beautiful artwork in the Cathedral. Somebody put a lot of work, and not a little money, into preparing for the liturgy…

As I scrolled through the pictures, I saw a photo of some people with placards who had gathered on the plaza in front of the Cathedral. Oh dear, I thought… ‘What are they protesting about?’… To my surprise, they weren’t complaining about against anything. They were ‘protesting’ in the sense of ‘bearing witness to’… Their placards bore such radical slogans as ‘We love our priests’ and ‘Thank you to our priests’…

It was a sweet, but somewhat unusual little demonstration. It’s great that those people appreciate their pastors. However, maybe it’s not so great that the Chrism Mass has tended to become thought of as being largely, or even only, about the ordained priesthood… It’s easy to see why that has happened. The late Pope Paul VI introduced a little ceremony into the Mass where the priests present renew their priestly promises. And because the Chrism Mass is, in theory, supposed to be on Holy Thursday, there’s a natural link between that day, the day of the Last Supper, and the ordained priesthood. The late Pope John Paul used to issue a letter to all the priests of the world on Holy Thursday each year too. So, all of this – the big gathering of priests, the renewal of priestly promises, the letter from the Pope, and the obvious fact that the oils are, in a sense, part of the ‘toolbox’ of a priest, combined to make the Chrism Mass feel like it was all about the priesthood. It’s not!