ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Praised be Jesus Christ our great High Priest,
“the faithful witness...who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by his Blood....”

My first greeting is to you, dear brother Priests, as we are gathered in the presence of God’s faithful people to celebrate once again as a presbyterate the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday.

I want immediately to welcome Cardinal John Foley, who comes back to us after his many years in Rome. During that time he was never a stranger to the presbyterate of Philadelphia, as his constant attention and service to his brother priests so clearly testify. John, we are so pleased to have you in our midst again.

For all of us this Chrism Mass is all about Jesus Christ, our great High Priest and about our sharing in His sacred priesthood—in joy, in suffering, and always in hope.

This year our celebration takes place under difficult circumstances. With reference to the sexual abuse of minors we are all experiencing pain for victims of such abuse, as well as for those brother priests who are so deeply affected by the situation. In the midst of this, all of us are challenged as we remember the words of Jesus who says to us so clearly: “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (Jn 16:33). We are called to this courage, this confidence, not because we ourselves have no weaknesses or sins, but because Jesus Christ died for us and, in the Eucharist, His Body and Blood are offered up to the Father “so that sins may be forgiven.”

The word of God in our second reading proclaims to us Jesus Christ as “the faithful witness...who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his Blood.” In acknowledging Jesus as the faithful witness we likewise acknowledge that, as His priests, we too have been called to this same role in sacrifice and suffering. Like Him we have been consecrated by the Holy Spirit to bring glad tidings to the lowly and to heal the brokenhearted. Realizing the difficulties of this moment, we see just how much Jesus needs us for His work, how much the Church counts on us to fulfill our ministry, in perseverance and in holiness of life.

This is the day, dear brothers, on which, in unity with our Holy Father and with one another in the presbyterate of Philadelphia, we are called to consecrate ourselves anew to our Eucharistic mission and ecclesial identity. Everyone knows that without the priesthood there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist there is no Church. This is the day for us to tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him and the great mission that He has entrusted to us, even when we must live it in sacrifice and pain. This is also the day when Jesus Christ wants the world to know that He loves His priests and strengthens them with His grace.

And because Jesus invites us to ever greater friendship with Himself, the Church leads us today in the renewal of our sacred commitment to celibacy, which is the expression of our priestly love. What is particularly significant in this regard is that we renew our pledge in the solemn presence of our people, whose relationship we cherish and for whose spiritual benefit we have freely laid down our lives.

We are so deeply grateful to the People of God for the high standards that they require of us, for the level of generosity that they seek from us, for the confidence that they want always to place in us, and for the love that they so constantly lavish on us and that so beautifully exists in each parish family.

To you, dear People of God, I express profound thanks for the way you live your holy Catholic faith, recognizing in your priests and in their humanity God’s plan for His Church. It is through the priest that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the Eucharist, which builds and sustains the Church, and offers us mercy and the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Confession.

In the great tradition of the Church, you have always honored your priests, encouraged and challenged them, and gratefully received their sacramental ministry, which derives its meaning and power from Christ Himself. Today your priests, in the unity of the presbyterate, commit themselves anew, in fidelity and love, to their sacred mission at your service—at the service of our families, of our young people, our sick and suffering, our poor, our immigrants, our elderly, our dying, all those in need of Christ and His mercy. All the while, your priests count on the power of your prayers and the gift of your love. We all remember those challenging words of Saint Paul: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2).

Today the Church asks all of you, dear friends, to pray for vocations to the priesthood, that many young men may generously accept the call of Christ to serve God’s people as ministers of His mercy and love. And you are asked to pray that our priests will always, even in times of difficulty, give a witness of contagious joy in the fulfillment of the priesthood, which has so accurately been described as the love of the heart of Jesus. And may those young men called by God to the priesthood open wide their hearts in generosity and love.

Since the priesthood is a treasure that belongs to the entire community, and without the priesthood there is no Eucharist and no Church, it is so important that the whole Church assume the responsibility of prayer for vocations. I remind all our suffering brothers and sisters, all the sick and infirm of our Archdiocese what a tremendous power of intercession they can exercise for obtaining needed vocations. I ask our contemplative Religious once again to renew their special commitment to this sacred cause.

Every time the Church celebrates the Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest prays these words: “Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety....” Today, with deep earnestness and support, we offer up this prayer for all our priests, as we entrust them to Mary the Mother of Jesus, and as they themselves look back to their ordination day and recall the power of the Holy Spirit, with which they were invested at that time, and which will never abandon them.

Dear brother priests: On this day that is so important for the Church, for our people and for ourselves, let us remember the exhortation of Paul to Timothy. He says: “For this reason I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God .... For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord .... He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus .... On this account I am suffering these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know him in whom I have believed and am confident that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day” (1 Tim 1:6,7,9,12). Amen.