Chrism Mass 2001

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21)

Bishop Untener’s Homily - Chrism Mass 2001

The "Paschal Mystery"

We’re coming upon the high point of our Church year. What a Sunday is to the week, the upcoming Triduum is to the whole year. We immerse ourselves in and celebrate the "Paschal Mystery."Now that phrase, the Paschal Mystery, is one we’re familiar with. But sometimes we can think of it in shorthand fashion and reduce it, more of less, to the dying and the rising of Jesus . The trouble with that is – it can seem to imply that our participation in the "Paschal Mystery" happens when we die. We’re supposed to lead a good moral life so that when we die, we can share in the resurrection that Christ won for us. But the Paschal Mystery is far, far greater than that. The word "paschal" come from an Aramaic word that means "passover" and we use it to refer to two things: First it refers to the night the angel of death "passed over" the homes of the Jewish people who had put the blood of a lamb on their doorpost. Second, it includes the great passage of Jesus from God to the human race... his passage through life... through suffering... through death... his ascending to God... his sending of the Spirit upon us... and his gathering of all creation into the reign of God. In the Triduum, we immerse ourselves in and we celebrate this "great passage" (which might be a clearer term).

Underway As We Speak

This "great passage" of Jesus isn’t over and done with. It is a colossal enterprise, and it’s going on now, as we speak. The entry of Jesus into creation, his life, death, rising, ascending, sending of the Spirit, and gradual gathering of creation into the reign of God has changed everything. The cosmos is different because of it... like a song when, after a couple of verses, you raise it to a higher key. There is a power at work in us, in all creation that wasn’t there before. Jesus declared that this "great passage" was underway when he stood in that Nazareth synagogue and said, "Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." It is underway. And everything is different now than it was before He came. It’s like one of our great songs being played in a different key.

It helps to see it all in its entirety, and not scattered pieces. It is one great passage that is going on and of which we are part. The sacraments aren’t scattered pieces. Every Sacrament we celebrate is a participation in the great passage of the Lord, and the sacraments take on their full meaning when we see them this way. It all reaches a crescendo in the Eucharist, when the whole great passage is made present to us and we are caught up in it in a way that cannot be put into words.

The Lord’s Work – We Have A Part

This colossal enterprise is beyond our reckoning. It is the Lord who is accomplishing it. It’s good to keep that in mind especially in bad times... when our hopes for the world or the Church aren’t being fulfilled... when we face huge problems... when everything seems futile. During those times we realize that it isn’t our enterprise. It isn’t our planning and our programs that ultimately bring the results. It’s the Lord.But we have a part in it. The Lord carries on this great passage by working through us. Each of us was created by God and put here on earth for a purpose – to be part of the working out of this enterprise. Each of us is given a part that is given to no one else. I don’t care if you are a black person, a red person, a yellow person, a brown person, a white person... I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman... I don’t care if you’re rich or you’re poor... I don’t care if you’re a lay person or a bishop... I don’t care if you’re married or single... I don’t care if you’re healthy or if you’re sick, educated or un-educated... each one of us is created and placed here by God and called to play our part in making this passage happen.

We accomplish our purpose simply by trying to live the Gospel in whatever circumstances of life are dealt to us. Every single day of our lives is part of this great passage. What we accomplish may not seem important to us, but it is important, like a tiny jewel in a great mosaic. We may not fully understand its meaning in this life, but we shall be told it in the next.

The Oils: A Symbol Of The Colossal Enterprise

The oils that we bless and the chrism that we consecrate at this Mass can stand as a sign of what is taking place. Symbolically speaking, we are called to go and spread this oil over the whole earth and over all people.

The Oil of Catechumens gives people the strength and courage to have the nerve to believe in God, to believe that creation has a future, to believe in life after death... all this in the face of a world that trivializes such beliefs.
The Holy Chrism expresses the presence of the Risen Christ through his Spirit. The altar, anointed with chrism, glistens with the Lord’s presence and is surrounded by his fragrance. So do the people who are anointed with this holy oil – when they are chrismed, "Christ-ed".
The Oil of the Sick expresses God’s strengthening presence when a person’s body or mind or spirit is weakened. No matter what a person’s condition, they have a part in God’s plan and accomplish this even through suffering.

Our Closing Song

This Chrism Mass is a grand celebration, and the upcoming Triduum is a grand time of the year. We celebrate the "great passage" that Jesus began when he became part of this world, and the great enterprise that he calls us to share in. We want to sing and dance because it is the Lord who assuredly is bringing it to fulfillment.The spirit of all this is captured in the last verse of the song we’re going to sing at the end of this Mass: