Priests renew commitment at Chrism Mass

By Tanya Connor
 The Catholic Free Press

Setting people free was a theme that Bishop McManus sounded at the Chrism Mass on Tuesday, in a mostly filled St. Paul Cathedral.
He spoke especially to priests, who renewed their commitment to priestly service at this annual Holy Week Mass. Priests celebrating significant jubilees during the current year were recognized; this year that included Bishop McManus, 45 years a priest, and retired Bishop Reilly, 70 years since his ordination.
At Mass Bishop McManus blessed holy oils that priests use for celebrating sacraments: the oil of the sick, for anointing the sick; the oil of catechumens, for those being baptized; and the chrism, which is used at baptism, confirmation and holy orders. Representatives of parishes and religious communities picked up their oils after Mass.
Bishop McManus began his homily with the Scripture passage from Isaiah 61:1-2: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord ...”
In the Chrism Mass Gospel, Jesus read this passage in the synagogue and said it was fulfilled at the moment people heard it (Lk 4:16-21).
Pope Benedict XVI prepared himself for his priestly ordination by reading the Scripture passage, “Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth,” Bishop McManus said. He read from the late pope’s account of that experience: “Then I realized what was going to happen to me the next day. I would be bathed in the Lord himself. Priestly ordination means being immersed in him, immersed in the truth.”
Bishop McManus then told how people in the Gospels received physical and spiritual freedom from encountering Jesus.
“We have been anointed as agents of spiritual freedom,” the bishop told the priests, and talked about how people are immersed in Christ through the sacraments. He said that when priests baptize, forgive sins and feed people with the Eucharist, Christ repeats the command he gave to those who saw him raise Lazarus from the dead: “Untie him and let him go free.”
“Untie them … and let them go free,” the bishop said. “This is our vocation and ministry” as priests.