Chrism Mass 2023

Published: April 3, 2023

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock on Monday, April 3, 2023.

Bishop Taylor

Today the priests at our day of recollection have already heard me talk quite a bit about ministry.

In the first talk we looked back over points of light and darkness we have experienced over these last 15 years, the light of the dramatic growth in Hispanic ministry, yet also the darkness of having to deal with the fallout of painful scandals from the past.

The light of many new vocations to the priesthood, and while I noted that this was a time of institutional growth, during these years we have experienced the darkness of a steady decline in Mass attendance.

In my second talk we looked to the future through the lens of the Synod on Synodality, the national study on the priesthood and our National Eucharistic Revival. I focused especially on peoples’ desire for a greater sense of community in our parishes going forward, on peoples’ need for us to preach courageously the sometimes unwelcome truths of our faith, especially when it comes to moral issues, and peoples’ beautiful desire for a closer connection with their priests. 

Now in this Chrism Mass we bring all of these ministerial concerns to the Lord, renewing our commitment as priests and blessing the oils that will be used in ministry over the course of the next year.

In this Mass of preparing oils for the anointing to which Jesus refers in our Gospel reading — "anointing to proclaim glad tidings to the poor" — we recall that the sacraments in which these oils will be used are all moments of personal encounter with Jesus not only for our own personal benefit and consolation, but also for the purpose of mission, of being sent forth: empowered in the sacrament of confirmation, healed through the anointing of the sick and ordained to serve in holy orders.

It is for this reason that this Mass focuses both on the work of God and on the work of believers. 1.) The work of God through Jesus' death and resurrection that sets us free from the power of sin and death, into which we are initiated in the sacrament of baptism; and 2.) the work of believers, for which we are empowered and enlightened by the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of confirmation.

Since this Chrism is also used for the ordination of priests, so essential for the life of the Church, as we especially realize in this time of National Eucharistic Revival, we who were anointed for sacred ministry with Chrism on the day of our ordination will also take the opportunity today to renew publicly our commitment to priestly ministry.

So today, as we bless the oils to be used throughout the coming year, let us recall that all the sacraments of the Church — and not just those in which use these oils — all the sacraments are intended to be moments of personal encounter with the mercy and love of Jesus Christ, including every time we gather around this altar to celebrate the Eucharist.

These privileged encounters with Jesus which are mediated through the sacraments are the "mystery" to which the word "sacrament" refers literally in Latin. But these sacramental encounters are not merely for our own comfort and benefit, but rather for the purpose of then sending us forth in mission, as was emphasized in our synodal consultation and indeed the study on the priesthood.

And so from this Mass we too will be sent forth — all of us, not just our priests — all of us sent forth to "bring glad tidings to the poor ... 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."