Schools Page
Chrism
Mass – Tuesday April 18, 2000.
Diocesan
Jubilee of Priests.
St.Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh –
11.30 a.m.
These words, proclaimed in the first reading and in the Gospel of this
celebration of the Chrism Mass, call to mind for each one of us, my brother
priests, the day the Spirit was given us in our anointing, the day we rose from
our knees “ priests forever according to the order of Melchizedek”.
I am sure these girls and boys here present, who have recently received
the anointing in the Sacrament of Confirmation, would say to me that these same
words of Scripture apply to them. And that would be true. But the Spirit is
given in diverse ways and for diverse ministries. These boys and girls have been
sealed by the Spirit in the completion of their Christian initiation, just as we
were many years ago.
However,
we priests, who have come together today to celebrate our Priesthood in this
Jubilee Year, are fully conscious of the manner in which the Spirit has set His
seal on us by calling us into the ministerial Priesthood of the Son of God,
Jesus Christ.
It was with this in mind that the Holy Father addressed his Holy Thursday
letter to us from the Upper Room in Jerusalem. He wrote:
“
I am indeed writing to you from the Upper Room, thinking back to all that took
place within these walls on that evening charged with mystery…..In this holy
room I naturally find myself imagining you in all the various parts of the
world, with your myriad faces, some younger, some more advanced in years, in all
the emotional states which you are experiencing: for many, thank God, joy and
enthusiasm, for others perhaps suffering or weariness or discouragement. In all
of you I honour the image of Christ which you received at your consecration, the
‘character’ which marks each of you indelibly. It is a sign of the special
love which every priest has come to know and upon which he can always rely,
either to move ahead joyfully or to make a fresh start with renewed enthusiasm,
in the hope of ever greater fidelity”. These words of the Holy Father are most
encouraging to us in that he recognises that we carry the treasure of the
priesthood in earthenware vessels fully conscious of our human frailties. It is
with this in mind that we make of this occasion of the Chrism Mass our Jubilee
celebration. This is a precious moment for all of us. It is a moment of great
grace. It is a moment of the Lord’s favour. This is a time to thank God for
having called us to share in His ministerial Priesthood, to rediscover the
‘gift’ and the ‘mystery’ which we have received and which we celebrate.
It is a time to thank God for all the graces and blessings we have received in
our ministry and , in His Name, been able to give to our People. It is a time to
thank God for the wonderful people we have met and ministered to in the course
of our priestly work. This is an appropriate time for the whole Diocese to thank
our Priests for the dedication which they show in their daily ministry of
God’s Word and Sacraments. It is a time to renew our commitment as Priests of
the “new and eternal covenant”, a time to put into the merciful hands of the
Lord that which our human frailty has led us to regret, a time of new
beginnings, a time to look forward with confidence and total trust in the Lord
and Saviour we serve. This is a time to rekindle our enthusiasm for the mission
the Lord has given to us, to serve His People without counting the cost. This we
can do by reflecting often on the Mystery we celebrate,” the mystery of the
Eucharist, which proclaims and celebrates the Death and Resurrection of
Christ”. As we celebrate this Great Jubilee Year we are reminded that it is
meant to be “an intensely Eucharistic Year”, a year which has as its theme:
“Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the World, Bread for our Life”.
The Holy Father writes: “ Two thousand years after the birth of Christ,
in this Jubilee Year, we especially need to remember and ponder the truth of
what we might call his ‘Eucharistic Birth’. The Upper Room is the place of
this ‘birth’. Here began a new presence of Christ for the world, a presence
which constantly occurs wherever the Eucharist is celebrated and the priest
lends his voice to Christ, repeating the sacred words of institution. This
Eucharistic presence has accompanied the two thousand years of the Church’s
history, and it will do so until the end of time. For us it is both a joy and a
source of responsibility to be so closely linked to this mystery. Today we want
to become more deeply aware of this presence, our hearts filled with wonder and
gratitude, and in this spirit to enter the Easter Triduum of the Passion, Death
and Resurrection of Christ”.
Pope John Paul exhorts us, my dear brother priests, in these most
touching words: “ Let us remain faithful to what the Upper Room ‘hands on’
to us, to the great gift of Holy Thursday. May we always celebrate the Holy
Eucharist with fervour. May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ
in the Eucharist. May we sit at the ‘school’ of the Eucharist.
Through
the centuries, countless priests have found in the Eucharist the consolation
promised by Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper, the secret of overcoming
their solitude, the strength to bear their sufferings, the nourishment to make a
new beginning after every discouragement, and the inner energy to bolster their
decision to remain faithful. The witness which we give to the People of God in
celebrating the Eucharist depends in large part upon our own personal
relationship with the Eucharist”.
My dear People, my dear Religious Sisters and Brothers, my dear Girls and
Boys, here today on this Jubilee occasion the Priests of the Diocese of Cloyne,
in your presence and in mine, are about to renew their dedication to Christ as
priests of his new covenant. They need your support, they need your prayers. I
also need your support and prayers so that all of us, called in ministry, may
remain faithful to our call and generous and zealous in our service of the
people the Lord has entrusted to our pastoral care. Shortly there will be
blessed and consecrated the oils used in sacramental ministry and these oils
will be confided to the priests.
May they bring to you and to all those upon whom they will be placed that newness of life which the Lord Jesus won for us through His Death and Resurrection. May each one rejoice in the ministry given through the Church and proclaim: “ The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for He has anointed me"
+John
Magee.
Bishop
of Cloyne.