CHARLESTON—Reflective of this unusual time, priests affirmed their commitment to their ministry via social media during the annual Mass of the Oils livestreamed on April 7.
The chrism Mass is held on the Tuesday of Holy Week in the Diocese of Charleston, and this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was broadcast via YouTube and Facebook from the Chapel of the Holy Family at the diocesan Pastoral Center. The Mass is most often held in a diocesan cathedral on Holy Thursday but can take place another day during Holy Week.
During the Mass, the bishop consecrates the sacred oils that will be used in sacraments over the coming year. The sacred oils are oil of catechumens, used in baptism; oil of the sick, for anointing those who are ill; and sacred chrism, considered the Church’s chief anointing oil and used for dedicating churches, altars and other sacred objects, at baptisms and confirmations and for holy orders. The oils will be distributed to priests through their deans in each region of the state. The deans attended the Mass at the chapel.
Priests also renewed their vows during the Mass. The bishop exhorted his brothers in Christ to develop new ways to live out what they have been anointed to do and what they have been ordained to be.
“The Church tells us that we are to act ‘in persona Christi’ that is in the person of Christ,” the bishop said. “With the regular celebration of the sacraments it seemed that we might come close to living that challenge. In today’s circumstance, being restricted in the fullest celebration of those sacraments, celebrating Mass without a congregation, or preaching to a television camera leaves a void in our priestly activity.”
“Our Holy Father Francis has shown us that with all these difficulties, it is still possible to live the life for which we were anointed — still possible to live the promises we made at our ordination, not simply in the fulfilling of promises, but in reaching out to God’s people with joy and enthusiasm,” Bishop Guglielmone continued. “We can still fulfill our charge — to proclaim the Gospel in the hopes of bringing to fulfillment the full establishment of the Kingdom of God in our world. We must find new ways to evangelize – and perhaps in some ways we have. Technology perhaps kept at somewhat of a distance is becoming a strong tool to proclaim the kingdom with our people. Much more needs to be done.”
One of the clergy who was present on Facebook during the Mass was Father Dennis Willey who visibly confirmed with posts each of his vows as they were presented by the bishop.
“Due to the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves under that prevented my attending the Chrism Mass in person, I felt it was still important for me to affirm my renewal of promises publicly,” he told The Miscellany in an email. “It was my way of uniting myself to the bishop and my brothers during the live-streamed Mass. I also wanted to give visible witness to my ‘presence’ at the Mass even though I could not be physically present.”
In his homily, Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said that during this Bicentennial of the diocese, he had learned more of the history of Catholic Hill, near Walterboro. That knowledge of the past helped inspire him when thinking about the current isolation and quarantines taking place and how the laity are coping.
“For 40 years in the 1800s the congregation managed to hold on to their Catholic faith despite not having a church building, a priest or the sacraments,” he said. “The congregants seemed to be forgotten by the diocese in the ravages and aftermath of the civil war. But their faith remained strong and the faith was passed on to their children. God never forgot them, and they never lost sight of that fact.”
The bishop urged the people of God in the diocese to remain steadfast in their faith.
“Let us not become prophets of doom – let us remember that we are a people of hope,” he said. “We are a people who know God is with us always — in the best of times and in the worst of times. This Good Friday experience will lead to an Easter filled with the joyful presence of God’s love.”
Read Bishop Guglielmone’s complete Chrism Mass homily below:
“We have heard the scriptures for today’s Mass many times before.
Each year for this Chrism Mass, they remain the same – No A, B or C cycle and they are so strongly focused. In our first reading from the prophet Isaiah, the prophet makes it very clear as to what his mission is:
-to bring good news to the poor and afflicted
-to bind up the brokenhearted
-to proclaim liberty to the captives
-to bring release to prisoners
-to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God
-to comfort and bring hope to those who mourn.
We hear those same words in our Gospel passage where Jesus, the High Priest applies those very words, that very mission to Himself.
The Psalm speaks of David who is anointed by the Lord for mission. He has a task; the Lord offers a challenge: to lead His people to a deeper sense of relationships and trust in the God who has established a covenant relationship with his people. Might we question that if David had lived prior to Isaiah’s proclamation, he might have assumed these magnificent words to apply to himself as well??
The challenge for David was certainly present and although he may have failed in many ways he was chosen by God as king after the Lord’s own heart and was given a mission.
Our second reading from the Book of Revelation clearly speaks of God’s relationship with us:
“He loves us”
“He washes away our sins”
“He made us a line of Kings – priests to serve our God”
As we look at these scriptures that are proclaimed every year on this day we can focus on our priestly commitment; it seems very clear that the Church asks us to take these words very seriously. To me it is apparent that these words are at the very core of what it means to be a priest and doing our best to live this mission that the Lord gives us is what the Church expects in ordaining us.
I must say that having heard these scriptures during Chrism masses for the last 42 years, never have they seemed more powerful and loomed so large in my commitment to priesthood as they do this year.
This lent has been so difficult – this Holy Week is so unique in the way the whole Church is celebrating it.
When we were ordained, I believe we entered into a decent understanding of what it was that we were anointed for. Yes – glad tidings to the lowly, healing of the brokenhearted, proclamations of liberty to captives and prisoners, vindication by our God, comfort to those who mourn.
Yes, we saw all these challenges and accepted them. But in the many years we have been ordained we had the sacraments, the liturgy, the presence of the people of God to sustain us and to affirm our efforts. God’s grace through the sacraments not only was given to the recipients of the sacraments, but to us as priests as well. Living up to all that God calls us to do is so different in the present circumstance. We have to find and develop new ways to live out what we have been anointed to do and what we have been ordained to be.
It has always been a challenge to live up to all that we are called to be. The Church tells us that we are to act “in persona Christi” that is in the person of Christ. With the regular celebration of the sacraments it seemed that we might come close to living that challenge. In today’s circumstance being restricted in the fullest celebration of those sacraments, celebrating Mass without a congregation, or preaching to a television camera leaves a void in our priestly activity.
Our Holy Father Francis has shown us that with all these difficulties, it is still possible to live the life for which we were anointed – still possible to live the promises we made at our ordination, not simply in the fulfilling of promises, but in reaching out to God’s people with joy and enthusiasm.
We can still fulfill our charge – to proclaim the Gospel in the hopes of bringing to fulfillment the full establishment of the Kingdom of God in our world.
We must find new ways to evangelize – and perhaps in some ways we have. Technology, perhaps kept at somewhat of a distance is becoming a strong tool to proclaim the kingdom with our people. Much more needs to be done.
This is a time of sacrifice for all of us. I miss celebrating sacraments with our people as I am sure you do as well. Our people are struggling not only with fear of this terrible virus, but also with deprivation of the sacraments. But God still gives us all the graces to be faithful.
This year as we are celebrating the Bicentennial of our diocese, I have been privileged to learn more of the beautiful history of that place we call Catholic Hill, not far from the town of Walterboro. For forty years in the 1800’s the congregation managed to hold on to their Catholic faith despite not having a church building, a priest or the sacraments. The congregants seemed to be “forgotten” by the diocese in the ravages and aftermath of the civil war. But their faith remained strong and the faith was passed on to their children. God never forgot them, and they never lost sight of that fact.
My dear people of God in our diocese. Let us not become prophets of doom – let us remember that we are a people of hope. We are a people who know God is with us always – in the best of times and in the worst of times. This Good Friday experience will lead to an Easter filled with the joyful presence of God’s love.
May I conclude this day with the words of our Holy Father Francis at his first Chrism Mass seven years ago:
‘Dear lay faithful, be close to your priests with affection, that they may always be shepherds according to God’s heart.
Dear Priests, may God the Father renew in us the Spirit of holiness with whom we have been anointed; may He renew His Spirit in our hearts, that this anointing may spread to everyone, even to those “outskirts” where our faithful people most look for it and most appreciate it. May our people sense that we are the Lord’s disciples; may they feel that their names are written upon our priestly vestments and that we seek no other identity; and may they receive through our words and deeds the oil of gladness, which Jesus the Anointed One came to bring us. Amen”
- Pray for your priests
- Pray for all God’s people especially those affected directly by this virus (both the suffering and the providers)
- Pray for our Church
- Pray for our world
