Bishop encourages priests and their ministry at Chrism Mass

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Bishop McManus urged priests to remember their ordination and take seriously their promises. He asked everyone to pray for priests and vocations.
He was preaching at the Chrism Mass Tuesday at St. Paul Cathedral. At this annual Holy Week Mass, priests renew their commitment to priestly service and celebrate significant jubilees. There is a procession with the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens and the Holy Chrism, which the bishop blesses to be used for sacraments throughout the diocese in the coming year.
In addition to priests celebrating between 25 and 65 years of ordination, there were four bishops celebrating significant jubilees at the Mass. Not attending the Mass was Father C. Romeo Lamothe, celebrating 70 years of priesthood. Father Richard F. Reidy, vicar general, told worshippers that Bishop McManus is celebrating 40 years of priestly ordination, and they applauded.
Then it was Bishop McManus’ turn to have them applaud retired Bishop Reilly for 65 years of priesthood, retired Auxiliary Bishop Rueger for 60 years and Archbishop Michael W. Banach for 30 years. Archbishop Banach was ordained in the Worcester Diocese and is now a Vatican diplomat.
The cathedral was filled with laity coming to pick up sacramental oils for their parishes, as well as students from Catholic high schools, numerous diocesan priests, and some deacons, seminarians and representatives of religious congregations.
In his homily Bishop McManus noted that the Gospel reading told about Jesus beginning to reveal his mission. (Lk 4:16-21).
“We can also apply these words to us priests, who on the day of our ordination were anointed with the Holy Spirit and sent forth to continue Christ’s saving mission” by preaching the Gospel and celebrating the sacraments, he said.  
“Each one of us should recall with profound joy and gratitude the path that has led us to the priesthood, a path that finds its origin at the Last Supper,” when Christ washed the apostles’ feet and instituted the Eucharist, he said.
Bishop McManus encouraged priests to recall their ordination day, when, lying prostrate, “we heard the entire Church praying for us.” He suggested they relive the moment when, in awesome silence, the bishop imposed hands on them, “conferring that sacramental character which configured us to the Sacred Heart of Christ, our Eternal High Priest.”
Bishop McManus said the only directive Christ gave his Church to promote priestly vocations was to pray: “Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:38)
The bishop asked the congregation to pray daily for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, especially in the diocese. He also asked them to pray for their priests, who have given their lives “in service to you and your families.” The priests could testify to the joy they feel when someone tells them their help was a blessing, he said.
The bishop told the priests the promises they renew at the Chrism Mass have serious implications because what is at stake is “our promise to Christ himself.” Fidelity to their vocation builds up the Church, and every act of infidelity wounds Christ’s body, he said.
Their commitment is sometimes imperfect, he acknowledged. He said they can feel overwhelmed, especially when they encounter resistance from those for whom they have given their lives; “that can hurt.”
But he encouraged priests to think of Christ, obedient to his Father in all things, and to “ask him to keep us faithful to our priesthood until death.”