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Bishop Burbidge's Chrism Mass Homily
Chrism Mass
March 18, 2008
Dear Bishop Gossman, brother-priests, deacons, consecrated religious, pastoral administrators, seminarians, representatives from our parishes, students from our schools and all of you my sisters and brothers in Christ:
In his encyclical letter Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope), our Holy Father Pope Benedict states that even though we live in a fractured world, experience the anxieties of life and share in the sufferings of Christ, we are capable of great hope and thus can become instruments of hope for others (# 34). As we gather on this joyful and grace-filled day, let us first reflect on the true meaning of Christian hope.
Sometimes we may think of hope as related to the blessings and dreams we experience in this world, something which might be found in such things as human relationships, professions, worldly success, material comforts and scientific advances. Yet, Pope Benedict tells us that these things are not enough without the “great hope” that surpasses everything else. This great hope can only be God: God who has loved us and continues to love us until the end; God who bestows upon us what we ourselves cannot attain. If we are in relationship with Him who does not die, then we are in life and we live in joyful hope. (See #27, #31).
Today as we gather to bless the Sacred Oils and consecrate the Chrism, we are reminded of the great love the Lord our God has for each one of us, the love that sustains us in hope. The Oils and Chrism blessed and consecrated today will be used sacramentally this year throughout our entire Diocese. We are capable of great hope because of what we experience in these visible signs of the Lord’s constant love for each one of us. There are a number of signs of hope we might reflect on today:
(1) We rejoice in the faith of the parents who will bring forth their children for the Sacrament of Baptism and in knowing the great number of individuals in this Diocese who will be baptized and fully initiated into the Church at the Easter Vigil.
(2) One of my greatest joys as a Bishop is to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. I am deeply moved to witness the great commitment that our young people make to the Lord and His Church. As we pray for them and all those to be baptized and confirmed, we also offer profound thanks to the family members and friends and all in our parishes and schools who support and form them to receive the Sacraments.
(3) One of the most beautiful and powerful celebrations during my time as the Bishop has been the Mass celebrated on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the apparitions of Mary in Lourdes. At that Mass many of those seriously ill were anointed with the Oil of the Sick. It was edifying to witness the great faith and hope in the healing and saving power of Jesus. I recently received a note from a boy scout who assisted at that Mass. I agree with his words, “The Mass was awesome. I will never forget the expression on the faces of the people who were healed by God.” At this Mass we pray for all in our Diocese who will be anointed with the Oil of the Sick and who are suffering physically and emotionally. We thank all those who visit the sick and those in the medical profession who take care of them.
(4) We rejoice in knowing the Lord will soon bless this Diocese with two new priests who will be anointed with the chrism we bless today. We pray especially for Deacons Romen Acero and Michael Spurr as well as for all of our seminarians. It is my hope that our priests are inspired by their enthusiasm and that our seminarians are edified by the faithful and dedicated service of our priests. I offer my deep thanks to all in this Diocese for the support and encouragement you give to our priests and for your commitment to pray fervently for more priests and an increase of vocations to the Religious Life.
(5) In addition to experiencing and celebrating God’s love in and through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders, we rejoice in His great love perfectly revealed in the Eucharist, the source and summit of our lives, the gift that alone can satisfy our hungry hearts. I thank all of you for responding to the call of the Holy Father that I emphasized at the Chrism Mass last year asking that in your parish and throughout our Diocese you do all that is humanly possible so that the Eucharist is firmly believed, devoutly celebrated and intensely lived.
(6) We rejoice in witnessing the visible sign of the Lord=s love reflected in holy matrimony. At the special Diocesan Mass last year, I was overwhelmed at the number of couples celebrating their 25th, 50th and 50th plus wedding anniversaries and look forward to the two Diocesan Masses to be celebrated this year. Thank you, dear couples, for your example of faithfulness.
(7) It has been edifying to learn the number of faithful, especially throughout the Season of Lent, who have celebrated God’s infinite mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. We echo the words proclaimed in our Second Reading today: “To Him who loves us and frees us from our sins by His Blood...to Him be glory and power forever.” Thank you, dear priests, for your availability and priestly generosity and thank you, dear friends, for your trust in the Lord’s promise to forgive sins.
To those ordained and those in Consecrated Life, to those who are married, to those who have embraced the single life I say: In faithfulness to all we have promised God, in obedience to His Word, in the commitment to prayer, in generous service and through our intimate relationship with the Lord, especially in the sacramental life of the Church, we are capable of “great hope” because we come to know and to experience the saving and healing love of the Lord our God Who attains for us what we cannot attain for ourselves and Who offers us Life both now and forever. As we bless and consecrate these Oils and Chrism, we pray that in our Diocese the Sacraments will always and everywhere be celebrated in great faith, in joyful hope and in reverent love.
We who are capable of great hope must also be instruments of hope to all those we meet. I thank all of you for the many ways you respond to that call. I thank you especially for the great witness you offer in defense of the sacredness of all human life. I was so proud of our diocesan participation at the March for Life in Raleigh and in the March and Mass for Life in Washington, DC, and wish to offer a special word of encouragement to those who daily stand up for life. I know that each of you will also be a witness of hope as you exercise your duty as a faithful citizen in this election year so to assure the protection of life and to secure peace and justice throughout our land.
I thank all of you who share the message of hope through the catechetical and evangelization efforts of our Diocese with special thanks to all those involved in the Catholic education and faith formation of our young people in homes, schools, parishes and campus ministry programs. Thank you all for offering hope to others by your generous support of the Bishop’s Annual Appeal and other diocesan programs that seek to assist those in most need. Thank you for the many ways you witness to hope through the daily example of your own lives. Continue to maintain confidence not in your own power to build a better world but in a hope rooted in the power of God to accomplish all things.
In a special way, I wish to speak to you, my brother-priests, on this day when the Church honors Priesthood and invites us to renew our priestly promises. Through your faithfulness to celibacy and obedience and selfless service, through your authentic proclamation of the Gospel without compromise and reverent celebration of daily Eucharist and the other Sacraments, you are a powerful instrument and minister of hope. You are well aware that you have been ordained in the person of Jesus Christ, the One we see in the synagogue today quoting from the prophet Isaiah in our First Reading and announcing with great zeal and fervor that the Kingdom of God is in our midst. The Church invites you today to remember that your identity is profoundly unique: You are ordained in the person of Christ. You are the manifestation of Christ present as Head of his Church today. Your ministry rests in who you are, not in what you accomplish!
Today, I will invite you to renew your priestly promises with the same zeal and fervor as we see in the life of the One in whose name you are sent. He also reminds you today, dear brother priests, how important you are in God’s plan of salvation. Today, Christ thanks you for your perseverance and fidelity. He tells you again of His great love for you and how essential your ministry is in the life of the Church. The People of God, by their presence here today, reflect their great esteem and reverence for the Priesthood and assure you, dear brothers, of their constant prayerful support. As Bishop, I express my profound thanks for the gift you are to me and our Diocese. Your fraternal support is a gift for which I thank God daily. I renew my promise to support you in every way possible. Be renewed in the great love that God has for you and in the call that He has given you so that you may return home and remain powerful instruments of hope.
Dear brothers, I make this special request of you. In the person of Christ, you say, “This is my body. This is my blood.” You also say, “I forgive you of your sins.” In and through the grace of your Ordination you are also empowered to speak these words, “Come follow me.” Please regularly directly speak these words to men to whom the Lord may be calling to be His priests. Your invitation is all they may need. Their “yes” is what the Church needs!
Throughout our Diocese, we see a deep love for our Blessed Mother, as evidenced by the approximately 1300 people who will make the Diocesan Pilgrimage next month to the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. At the conclusion of his encyclical letter, Spe Salvi, our Holy Father points to Mary as the Mother of Hope. We entrust ourselves to Her and seek Her intercession and God’s divine assistance so that we may be granted renewed confidence that “Christ is our Hope” and abundant grace so that we may be instruments of hope, a hope which will transform us and our world so that we may know Life both now and forever. Amen.