Chrism Mass April 15 to celebrate unity, communion in the Church during Jubilee Year
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Only one thing could be better than a Jubilee Year of Hope pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St. Joseph for the Chrism Mass.
Bringing someone else along.
“There are people, most of them elderly, who would love to come to the Chrism Mass but can’t drive themselves,” said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight.
“If people could make the effort not only to come but also invite someone who couldn’t come otherwise, that would be an excellent way of preparing for the Mass and doing something very much in keeping with the Jubilee Year of Hope,” the bishop stated.
The Chrism Mass will be offered at 3 p.m. on April 15, the Tuesday of Holy Week, in the Cathedral.
All are invited and encouraged to attend the Mass, during which Bishop McKnight and the priests of the diocese will bless the oils and consecrate the Sacred Chrism that will be used to administer the Sacraments in every parish during the upcoming year.
The bishop and priests will also renew the promises they made at their Ordination.
Bishop McKnight will preach a homily touching on the themes of the Jubilee Year of Hope and outlining progress on implementing the current pastoral plans for the diocese and the deaneries.
A reception, including a light meal, will be held in Cana Hall after the Mass. Reservations are requested to provide an approximate count for the reception. Visit diojeffcity.org/chrism-mass-rsvp to make a reservation.
The Chrism Mass is a designated Jubilee Year pilgrimage event. People who attend this year’s Mass in keeping with the Church’s guidelines for making a Jubilee pilgrimage will be able to obtain a plenary indulgence — a full remission from the temporal punishment for all sins that have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
A guide to receiving a plenary indulgence can be found with the diocese’s Jubilee Year of Hope resources at diojeffcity.org/jubilee-year.
Oil of gladness
Offered each year in this diocese on the Tuesday of Holy Week, the Chrism Mass highlights and solidifies the bonds among the bishop, priests, the sacraments and all the faithful who receive them.
“Indeed, it’s the one Mass each year, in my experience, when the whole diocese really gathers,” said Bishop McKnight.
In recent years, a point has been made of ensuring lay representation at the Chrism Mass from each deanery, as well as people who are involved in leadership and in developing the pastoral plans of their parishes or their deaneries or the diocese as a whole.
“We gather in order to celebrate the communion of the Church and the priestly character of the Church, principally experienced in the bishop and his coworkers — the priests who concelebrate the Mass and with him bless the holy oils.”
The bishop, priests and faithful will also observe the 60th priestly anniversary of Monsignor Michael T. Flanagan, senior priest in residence at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Columbia, and the 25th priestly anniversary of Father Joseph S. Corel, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Sedalia, vicar for prison ministry in the diocese, and Dean of the Southwest Deanery.
The lay faithful will be present to witness the commitment that the bishop and priests renew together.
“Just as all the baptized renew their baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday, the priests at the Chrism Mass renew their priestly promises from Ordination,” said Bishop McKnight.
He emphasized that in contemplating the mission and role of priests in the community, “we’re also talking about the mission of the whole Church.”
“That’s why we have priests — because of the mission that the whole Church has and that the laity share with us,” the bishop noted.
Unlike the purple or red vestments priests wear at Mass during most of Holy Week, the bishop and priests wear white vestments at the Chrism Mass.
“This signifies that this is not a penitential Mass,” the bishop emphasized. “This is a Mass that is celebrating at the core of who we are and our communion with Christ crucified.
“And by his crucifixion, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us,” the bishop noted. “And that anointing that we all received in Baptism and Confirmation and that priests and bishops in particular, by their acceptance of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, makes us recipients of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to preserve the communion of the Church in what we believe and how we pray and how we live as Catholics.”
In the beginning
The annual blessing of the sacramental oils dates from the early Church.
It originally was part of the Holy Thursday Liturgy, since the Last Supper was not only the origin of the Eucharist but also the Holy Priesthood.
The Oil of Catechumens is used for infants during the baptismal ceremony, and for the anointing of the Elect during the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) as they prepare to be baptized.
This oil designates all members of the Church as learners in the Church and gives them a protecting strength in the contest against evil.
The Oil of the Sick is used in the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
Sacred Chrism is used in Baptism, as well as Confirmation, the ordination of priests and bishops and the anointing of churches and altars.
From desert to jubilee
Filled with music, prayer and ancient symbolism, the Chrism Mass is a moment of tremendous grace in any year.
But during a Jubilee year of the Church, the joyful emphasis on evangelization and charity is even more pronounced.
“In offering this Mass together,” said Bishop McKnight, “we are renewing our sense of what it means to belong to the Church. It’s a reminder that we are to go out and spread the Good News, as ones who are, in the language of the Gospel reading for the Chrism Mass, ‘anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor.’
“That message fits very well not only with Pope Francis’s entire pontificate, but in particular the theme of the Jubilee Year of Hope,” the bishop stated.
He thought back to the Chrism Mass he celebrated five years ago, when only 11 people were allowed in the Cathedral under the state’s health order for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was very much a desert,” Bishop McKnight recalled. “It was stark — the joyous character was somewhat muted.”
That Mass was livestreamed for the many who would have been there if they could have.
“You had to imagine somewhat the congregation out there on the Internet, watching and taking part to the extent that they could,” said Bishop McKnight.
“You could feel — you had that this tangible, palpable sense of communion — of the communion of the entire Church — that goes beyond what our minds can define or articulate,” he said.
“Because ultimately, the communion of the Church is having communion with Jesus Christ, and we all share in that relationship with him, and we are members of HIS Church, members of HIS Body,” the bishop stated. “And that is where the greatest joy is to be found.”
Circle of intercession
In the days leading up to this year’s Chrism Mass, Bishop McKnight asks the faithful to continue to pray for Pope Francis, for their bishop and for their priests, “because of the importance of the roles that we play within the life and vitality of our local Church.”
He pointed out that priests are always praying for the laity.
As bishop, he offers his Sunday Mass for the people of the entire diocese — “clergy and laity, deceased and living.”
“I will offer the Chrism Mass for that same intention,” he said.
The Chrism Mass will be livestreamed on the diocesan Facebook page at: facebook.com/diojeffcity.
