Indonesian priests’ retreat for Chrism Mass ‎

In what is becoming an annual tradition, priests gather during Holy Week across Indonesia for a two-day spiritual retreat with their bishop to prepare for the Chrism Mass during which they celebrate thier priesthood and renew their priestly promises.  During the Chrism Mass, traditionally celebrated on Holy Thursday morning, the Bishop of a diocese joins his priests in renewing their priestly ‎promises and blesses the oils of the infirm, the catechumens and the holy Chrism used in various ‎sacraments.

The ‎Chrism Mass of Jakarta Archdiocese was observed on Holy Thursday with  hundreds of priests and religious joining Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo in the capital’s cathedral.  Other dioceses held it earlier, to give time to their priests to return to their local communities to celebrate the solemn Holy Week liturgies.  

In Semarang, more than 330 priests attended the Chrism Mass in the local cathedral on Tuesday, with great participation of the local community.  Fr Sukendar Wignyomartaya told AsiaNews that ahead of the service, the archdiocese’s priests took part in a retreat whose central theme was Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia”.

"Spreading the Word of God in the contemporary social context" was the topic the priests discussed in the Diocese of Malang during their retreat along with their Bishop Henricus Pidyarto Gunawan.  In remarks to AsiaNews, the bishop expressed his joy for the enthusiasm with which priests and the faithful attend the Chrism Mass in every diocese. 

The diocese of Bogor, in West Java province, also organized two days of recollection. “The main theme of our retreat was the fidelity of us priests to Jesus, the Church and humanity,” Fr August Surianto Himawan told AsiaNews.   (Source: AsiaNews)