Homily for Chrism Mass: March 13, 2008

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at St. Mary's High School in Stockton.

The celebration of the Chrism Mass gives public expression in the liturgy of the unity and communion of the priests with their bishop. We are ordained into priestly ministry to be of service to the Church. But if only the bishop and his priests were gathered for the celebration, a very mistaken notion would be conveyed of some kind of separateness of the clergy. That is why this unity and communion of the priests and their bishop is celebrated in the liturgical gathering of the whole Church of the diocese. As your priests we offer this Mass to God our Father with you and for you.

As the local Church in the structure of a diocese we are a portion of the flock of Christ. The priests of the diocese are co-workers with the bishop and share with him a joint responsibility in service of the entire local Church. In communion with one another we dedicate ourselves to the service of the entire people who make up the Diocese of Stockton. Because the local Church is not only a portion of the entire Catholic Church but also because the entire Catholic Church is present in the local Church we as ordained ministers have a responsibility not only to the diocese but to the entire Universal Church. And the parish, as Pope Benedict XVI has so beautifully illustrated, is a tile in the mosaic of the local Church. The diocese is not made up of independent congregations connected to one another by some kind of association. Each parish is a precious tile in the mosaic of the Church, at once both local and universal.

The ordained ministers of the Church are not self appointed spokespersons for God, as if any one of us could go out and set up our own tent and build some kind of a personal following. The head of the Church is Jesus Christ who ministers through his priests in communion with their bishop because they share a common priesthood which unites them to Jesus Christ the eternal High Priest.

We are a single presbyterate, but each one in the presbyterate has particular responsibilities. Each priest is called by God to take initiative and freely respond to the demands of his office in his particular situation. The bishop is not his employer but rather oversees and coordinates the exercise of priestly ministry for the good of all the people who are being served. Each priest must render to the bishop an account of his ministry just as each parish must render an account to the diocese.

One must not see priestly ministry in any way as diminishing the other ministries of the Church whether it be diaconal, lay ecclesial, lay apostolate, movements, or associations. All ministry and life in the Church exists to promote holiness, that is, union with God as the human family in the Church. All the faithful participate in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, each in its own way as either in the common priesthood of all the faithful or in the hierarchical or ministerial priesthood.

Ordained ministry in the Church is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd who is the Head of the Church. All members of the Church can lay claim to what belongs to the Head, namely grace and mercy and salvation. But no one in the Church can claim any greater holiness than anyone else. To serve as an ordained priest in the Church is a ministry of pastoring and requires great purity of heart: To serve God first and above all and to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven. Secondly it requires a letting go of self, so that the priest does not live for himself but for others. Like Jesus he has come not to be served but to serve.

The presence of Christ in His Church is all about reconciliation with God. The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the good news. The Christian way of life and all ministry within the Church, is for conversion. Whatever we do, we do to build a relationship with God in Christ and with one another. All by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The more we know about Christ the more we want to become like Him. This is true regardless of our calling or place or ministry within the Church. We want to become more like Christ as His ordained priests, as His deacons, as His consecrated religious, as His laity. We are the one body of Christ anointed in the Holy Spirit.

Last Update March 17, 2008