By Bishop James Conley
On Monday, April 14, at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, I will celebrate the annual Chrism Mass. It is one of the most beautiful and well-attended Masses of the entire year, and a personal favorite of mine.
The whole Church will be assembled on Monday afternoon at the Cathedral: the lay faithful with representation from all the parishes in the diocese, our religious sisters from the various orders in the diocese, religious brothers and sisters, our seminarians, deacons, priests and bishops emeriti. It’s the only Mass of the year that includes such a wide representation of the Diocese of Lincoln. The Chrism Mass is open to the public, but you had better get there early, because the Cathedral fills up quickly!
Since the readership of the Southern Nebraska Register is largely faithful Catholics, and since most of you will not be able to join us for Chrism Mass this Monday, I wanted to share with you a preview of that uniquely singular Mass.
The main reason why the Chrism Mass is one of my personal favorites is because all my brother priests of the diocese are gathered. A few priests volunteer to stay back in their deaneries for sacramental emergencies, but I would estimate that over 90% of our priests are in attendance. We spend the early afternoon together in prayer for a time of retreat.
For me, the unity of the priesthood is always palpable at the Chrism Mass, since we are so rarely all together in one place. Some priests and laity will even drive for hours to attend, because we’re such a large diocese, territory-wise. It’s at this Mass that we prepare all the sacramental oils —that is, the blessing of the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick, as well as the consecration of the chrism—which will then be dispersed to every parish and used by its clergy throughout the year. At that point, parishes must properly dispose of any unused sacramental oils from the previous year—yet another symbol of the parish’s ongoing unity with the bishop.
During the Chrism Mass, the priests will also renew their priestly promises. This again speaks to the unity of our Church. As I lead the priests in this process, I will then ask the lay faithful who are present to pray for our priests, and for me as bishop. We also commemorate all the jubilarian priests at this Mass; and this year there is much to celebrate with priests celebrating their 25th, and 65th anniversaries of the priesthood – including my esteemed predecessor, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, who celebrates 65 years of ordination! He is featured in today’s paper – with more jubilarian features to come– and I heartily congratulate Bishop Bruskewitz and all of them here, for so many years of priestly service and faithfulness to the Lord and His flock. Our diocese has been immensely blessed by their love and sacrifice.
The Chrism Mass is traditionally celebrated on Holy Thursday because its two main purposes are intimately connected to Holy Thursday: We bless the sacramental oils and consecrate the chrism because Jesus taught the Apostles how to prepare chrism at the Last Supper; and we renew our priestly promises because the institution of the holy priesthood is traditionally associated with Holy Thursday.
It is too little known that chrism is linked directly to Jesus. Pope St. Fabian, who reigned as pope from 236–250, writes: “For on that day the Lord Jesus, after supping with His disciples, and washing their feet, according to the tradition which our predecessors received from the holy apostles and left to us, taught them to prepare the chrism.” And as the Church has faithfully observed Holy Thursday every year, she likewise faithfully blesses holy chrism every year.
If Jesus Himself taught the Apostles how to prepare the chrism, He obviously considered anointing important. In the Chrism Mass’s Gospel, we see Jesus reading from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…” Our Lord is the Christ—Christos in Greek, meaning the Anointed One. (You can hear in His title the same root as chrism, Chrisma in Greek.) Jesus is the one who has been set apart, anointed, to fulfill God’s divine plan for redemption.
And because Jesus wants us to share in His work, He anoints us through His priests. For all Catholics were anointed with holy oil and chrism at our baptisms, which incorporated us into the Body of Christ and made each of us priest, prophet, and king. And we were confirmed with chrism to “share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1294). Through this anointing and our ongoing reception of the sacraments, God shares His divine life with us—for He knows we need Him if we’re to participate in His saving work, and He wants our help.
We were all anointed not for status, but for service. We were and are divinely empowered to pour ourselves out as Jesus did—as the jubilarians we are honoring this year have for decades.
Hopefully we have intensified our service to the Lord this Lent through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If not, there are still things you can do to make Holy Week more fruitful, such as: attend the Triduum in your parish, or, if you can’t, meditate on the Mass readings at home; watch one of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s homilies on the Last Sayings of Christ (which are available for free on YouTube); read the Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion; or provide a meal to someone in need (or give to a local food pantry or Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska).
If none of these ideas resonates, then pray about what the Lord is inviting you to do. It need not be big—Jesus sees and appreciates all our small acts of love. And I too am grateful for the incredible faith and generosity of the wonderful people of this diocese. Please know you are in my prayers as together we enter the holiest week of the year.
