(April 9, 2009) When a priest is consecrated, he is set apart for God who is Truth.
Thus by being removed from worldly bonds and given over to God, the priest is he is
available to God and for everyone. This is how Pope Benedict XVI summarised the meaning
of priesthood, during the morning Chrism Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Holy Thursday.
During the Chrism Mass the bishop of a diocese gathers his priests around him
in celebrating their priesthood and renewing their priestly promises in commemoration
of the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood by Jesus at the Last Supper
with his disciples. Pope Benedict, in his capacity as the bishop of Rome, celebrated
the Chrism Mass with some 1600 priests of Rome, including cardinals and bishops. The
Chrism Mass takes it name from the holy oil or chrism that is blessed during the Mass.
Chrism is used in the administration of certain sacraments and in the performance
of certain ecclesiastical functions. In his homily the Pope Benedict explained
how priests can live their priestly consecration by truly belonging to God. He recalled
the eve of his own ordination 58 years ago when he opened the Bible to receive what
he said, “one more word from the Lord for that day and for his future journey as a
priest.” His eyes fell on the passage: ‘Consecrate them in the truth; your word
is truth’. Then turning to his fellow priests, Pope Benedict said they are consecrated
“in the font in which the Lord immerses us is Himself – the Truth in person.” Hence,
priestly ordination means: being immersed in him, immersed in the Truth. I belong
in a new way to him and thus to others. Thus “becoming men of truth, men of love,
men of God” is the basis of a priest’s commitment. To be consecrated means to
be holy, the word that best describes the nature of God. “In the Old Testament, the
giving over of a person to God, his ‘sanctification’,” the Pope explained, “is identified
with priestly ordination, and this also defines the essence of the priesthood: it
is a transfer of ownership, a being taken out of the world and given to God.” In
the process of sanctification-consecration, the priest is removed from worldly bonds
and given over to God, and precisely in this way, starting with God, he is available
for others, for everyone. Pope Benedict explained that when, at the Last Supper
Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in truth,” he prayed that God take his disciples away
from themselves to make them his own property, so that, starting from him, they can
carry out the priestly ministry for the world. To be sanctified in truth means being
deeply purified by the word of God, the Pope said and asked “whether we are truly
pervaded by the word of God or perhaps we are mired in the superficiality in which
people today are generally caught up.” Pope Benedict admitted there existed in the
world “caricatures of a misguided humility and a mistaken submissiveness, which we
do not want to imitate.” There also existed “a destructive pride and a presumption
which tear every community apart and result in violence.” He said it is only from
Christ that we can we learn the correct humility which corresponds to the truth of
our being, and the obedience which submits to truth, to the will of God. Pope
Benedict reminded the priests that another way of belonging to Christ is through renunciation
which they vowed when pronouncing the words ‘I do’ at their ordination. “Day by day
this great “yes” has to be lived out in the many little “yeses” and small sacrifices,”
without bitterness and self-pity…” Part of the process of being immersed in the Truth,
in Christ, is prayer, through which we exercise our friendship with him and we come
to know him: his way of being, of thinking, of acting,” the Pope said. This prayer
is not only a personal communion with Christ, but is also one with the Church. To
be immersed in God’s truth and thus in his holiness demands that we stand up against
lies, both great and small, which are present in the world in so many different ways.
It means accepting the struggles associated with the truth. Being immersed in him
means being immersed in his goodness, in true love… we learn to recognize him precisely
in the suffering, in the poor, in the little ones of this world. Following the
morning Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI was
to lead the Mass of the Lord’s Supper along with the Washing of the Feet ceremony
at Rome’s Basilica of the St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Pope as bishop of
Rome. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is the first liturgical celebration of the Easter
Triduum - Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday - Christianity’s three most
holy days that commemorate the passion and death of Jesus, in preparation for His
glorious resurrection on Easter.