Archbishop of Harare celebrates Chrism Mass

Over two thousand Catholics and over a hundred clergy filled the Jesuit-run St Georges sports field for the 2016 Chrism Mass Tuesday where the Archbishop of Harare, Robert Christopher Ndlovu blessed the Holy Oils for the Catechumenate, Chrism oil and the oil for the Anointing of the sick. Also, present at the Mass were the Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, Archbishop Marek Zalewski.

The Chrism Mass was for the first time in the history of the Archdiocese of Harare held outside of the Cathedral. Moving the venue to St Georges College grounds was necessitated by the need to accord as many people the opportunity to participate. Further, by celebrating Chrism Mass on Tuesday instead of the traditional Thursday, priests from distant parishes of the diocese were able to attend the Holy Eucharist without the worry of rushing back to their parishes for the Thursday evening liturgies.

Chrism Mass is a special moment in the Church where the unity of the Bishop with his priests is manifest. Together, the Bishop and the priests form the presbyterate. During the Mass, deacons and priests renew their vow of obedience to the local Bishop and their commitment to serve God’s people. At the end of the Chrism Mass, the Holy Oils are brought back to parishes of the diocese for use in the coming year

In his homily, Archbishop Ndlovu asked for forgiveness from congregants.

 “…in trying to work for you, we might have failed to take good care of your souls as expected. We ask for your forgiveness in this Year of Mercy. We ask a bit a bit of amnesty from you,” said the Archbishop.

 Sharing a personal message to his brother priests, the Archbishop of Harare urged the priests to acknowledge that they are sinners but they should strive for holiness as the Year of Mercy is a time for reflection on their ministry.

“We should humbly acknowledge before God and his people the fact that in the history of our priesthood, the dark presence of sin is also found, so there is the need for us in this Year of Mercy to commit ourselves fully to the search for holiness.”

He implored the priests not to limit their interaction with the faithful in celebrations of the Eucharist but also to give them more time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which he said relates strongly with the Sacrament of Eucharist.

 “It could be that many people tend to be losing interest in going to Confession because we priests are hardly found in Confessionals. If we can truly discover for ourselves the beauty of the Sacrament of Confession then we are better placed to help our brothers and sisters to do the same,” he said.

 (By Nobert Rwodzi and Pylaia Chembe)

Jesuit Communications Zimbabwe –Mozambique.