I DO - ONCE

My parents celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary shortly after I was ordained.  As part of the celebrations I asked my parents if they wanted to re-exchange their wedding vows.  Mom, who was fairly open to anything, gave her one adamant answer to all of the questions we asked:  “NO!”  She explained, “I gave my vows once and I meant it.”  (That's their wedding picture to the right at the old Sacred Heart parish.)

 

Concerning the priesthood I have the same theory as my Mother but not the practice.  Every year in Holy Week all the priests of a diocese who can make it gather with the bishop to celebrate the Chrism Mass.  It is the one time of year that the priesthood is officially celebrated.  The bishop’s homily, speaking to his sons, is given directly to or about priesthood.  And then, as when all Catholics are asked to restate their baptismal vows at Easter, priests are asked to reaffirm their vows.  As the bishop asks “Are you resolved . . .” the entire cathedral rings out with a resounding, “I AM!” from your priests.

 

Also at this mass, the sacred oils used in the entire diocese the upcoming year are blessed.  Each parish has properly disposed of their oils either by burying them or burning them, cleaned and prepared the containers for the oils which are called stocks, and then they bring them to the cathedral this day to have them refilled with the new oils.  These are the oils used for the sick, for those preparing for baptism, and the sacred Chrism used for baptism, confirmation, and priesthood as well as certain other uses.

 

The place where your oils are kept at your parish is called the ambry.  Sometimes they are in very public places with glass doors, and sometimes they are hidden away in the sacristy.  But if you lay your eyes on it, know the journey that those oils took and the celebration that was had so that they might be available for use in your parish.

MONDAY DIARY - CHAPTER 3

Trying to answer the question, "What does a priest do?"

If you are reading this you have most likely been anointed with oil by the Church at baptism, confirmation, ordination, or perhaps when you were ill. These are blessed oils of course. Have you ever given any thought concerning from where they came?

The containers in which your parish keeps the holy oils are called stocks. There are three of these. The oils are Holy Chrism (or Sacrum Chrisma – SC) for use in baptisms, confirmation, orders, blessing tower bells and consecrating altars, chalices, patons, and churches. The second is called the Oil of Catechumens (or Oleum Sanctorum OS). Finally there is the Oil of the Sick (or Oleum Infirmorum – OI).

Every year around this time all the oils are reverently disposed of (that is they are either burned or buried), and the stocks cleaned and prepared for newly blessed oils. The oils for the entire diocese are blessed once a year by the bishop in the presence of his priests at a mass called the Chrism Mass. This mass traditionally takes place on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday, but for pastoral reasons it may happen on another day of Holy Week. For those of us in the Diocese of Cleveland, we gathered on Holy Tuesday.

The priests met on the third floor of the chancery building. It is an elegant building on the outside, but inside not so much. The priest cram into small, hot rooms allotted to them for vesting and preparing for mass. The joyful din is quite remarkable though as brother greets brother and news from the eight counties of the diocese shoot about the room. Black hats, jackets, and coats are placed on every available hanger or chair back and soon the flash of white of albs and stoles start transforming the room from somber black to celebratory white.

Eventually a voice cries out above the others, “Brothers! May I have your attention please!” All heads turn toward the priest who calls out instructions of what will be taking place that night. With that it is time for the grand procession.

Two by two the priests led by the deacons walk the length of the chancery, through the rectory into the Cathedral and march down the long isle. The chorus is singing, the mighty organ and small orchestra ring out a triumphant hymn, and though hundreds of lay people may be in attendance, it is the voice of the hundreds of priests that ring through the vaults of the ceiling of this grand edifice.

This is the one official liturgy out of the year that is specifically designed for the bishop to speak to and unabashedly focus on his priests. At the homily he adjures us, “Do not be afraid of the chalice! Do not be afraid of the Cross! Be afraid only of not loving enough!”

At this point the priest are asked to rededicate themselves to their vows and mission. The bishop asks, “Are you ready to renew your own dedication to Christ as priests? Are you resolved to unite yourself more closely to Christ and His sacrificial life? Are you resolved to be faithful ministers of God’s mysteries and Good Shepherds?” “I AM!” was shouted by your priests in a fever pitch that should have been heard by my blogger friends in Minnesota.

At various times during the mass the different oils are blessed. When the Chrism oil is consecrated, the oil with which you have been anointed, these words, in part, are used:

“And so Father, we ask you to bless + this oil you have created. Fill it with the power of your Holy Spirit through Christ Your Son. It is from Him that this chrism takes its name and with chrism you have anointed for yourself priests and kings, prophets and martyrs.

“Make this chrism a sign of life and salvation for those who are to be born again in the waters of baptism. Wash away the evil they have inherited from sinful Adam, and when they are anointed with this holy oil make them temples of Your glory, radiant with the goodness of life that has its source in You.

“Through this sign of chrism grant them royal, priestly, and prophetic honor, and clothe them with incorruption. Let this be indeed the chrism of salvation for those who will be born again of water and the Holy Spirit!”

That is to what you have been consecrated! What a lofty position! Strive to live that out every day of your lives! What graces have been poured out upon you! What blessings the Lord has given you! It is a treasure to be cherished thusly by the God who made you!

I wish I could say the rest of the night was as wonderful but this is where the logistics start to fail. First, the priests return to the vesting rooms. There are hundreds of black suit jackets, black winter coats, and black hats with which to deal. Oh! The chaos. Even I got caught with Fr. B’s suit coat on. Then of course everybody goes to retrieve holy oils for their parish at the same time. The transitional deacons did an admiral job in a bad situation involving a long day, late hours, and priests that had hours ride home. But nothing beats the parking deck! On the fourth floor nothing moves for an hour or so and so I walked up to the top level and took some pictures of the cathedral that you see here.

OF CROWN, MITERS, AND HOT DOGS

Spiritual reflections on the crown of thorns often focus on the physical pain that it caused Jesus. One might picture two guards with mischievous glee, thinking that they had a riotous idea, sneaking away, the one goading the other into making a crown “for the so called king.” “We’ll make it out of the branches of this thorn bush,” he says with conspiratorial slyness and with great fervor they attack the dry bush, ripping at its branches and carefully weaving a crown careful lest they should puncture their own flesh with its thorns.

Soon back in front of the crowd and standing next to Jesus one of them, the one who had the idea originally, shouts something along the lines of, “Every king should have a crown shouldn’t he? What think you of this one?” As they cheer, the crown is slammed down upon the sacred head of Our Savior.

It is here that many speculate about the length and number of thorns, how deeply they must have dug into his scalp, the blood that escaped from His body and His helplessness in reaching up to ease His torment. But perhaps the physical pain is not the most insidious part of this cruel venture.

While not exactly denying His kingship, they instead ridicule His claim to kingship; make light of it, denying that it has any meaning. They do not listen or debate His ideas, they make fun of the man and destroy His message. It is a degrading and cheap yet effective way to silence a voice and discredit a person and destroy his dignity. How terribly frustrating it must be to have what you know is a good message and to have your credibility so wickedly destroyed that no amount of speaking will persuade anyone to take what you have to say seriously even if it be for their own good.

Alice Von Hildebrand stated, “(Ridicule) was, for example, the poison tool used against Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, making him the butt of cruel jokes. His noble message was doomed.”

Is this why Christ remained silent?

IN OTHER NEWS:

Bishop Lennon, the new bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland held his first Chrism Mass with his priests yesterday. It was a stunningly beautiful liturgy and with an equally moving message in his homily. He called his sons to fidelity to Christ, His Church, and Scripture and Tradition.

This was connected to his mentioning of his visit to all of the Catholic high schools in the diocese. During his visits he spoke with student representatives of each of the schools for a minimum of an hour. When asked what they want from their high schools, the students resolutely spoke of wanting to know what their faith teaches. They are confused but are willing to engage the faith fully IF WE GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED. Perhaps this is sign of good things to come from this bishop, especially in light of some things that will be happening over the Triduum:

Some of our Catholic high schools are scheduling games during Good Friday. In at least one case, it is a Catholic school against another Catholic school. Another school is scheduling an AWAY game for over the Easter weekend. Have they lost their collective minds? Have these schools who have students in them thirsting for the faith losing sight of our mission? What in the name of all get out (I’d love to be more forceful here) are they thinking? What more important day should families be together in their parish to celebrate than on the holiest day of the Christian calendar? I am furious.

That being said, the chancellor has refused requests to release people from fast and abstinence this Friday (kudos to him). Why do they want it? Because it is the home opener for the Cleveland Indians. Sheesh!