Chrism Mass: God's excess of mercy in encounter,
forgiveness
(Vatican Radio) On the
morning of Holy Thursday, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Chrism at St
Peter’s Basilica.
During the Holy Mass, the
Holy Father blessed the sacred oils (Chrism, the oil of catechumens, and the
oil of the sick), which will be used during the Easter Vigil, and in liturgical
celebrations throughout the year.
The Mass also included a
renewal of promises for the priests present, on the ceremonial anniversary of
Christ’s institution of the priesthood.
In his homily, Pope Francis
reminded his fellow priests that “we are witnesses to and ministers of the
ever-increasing abundance of the Father’s mercy; we have the rewarding and
consoling task of incarnating mercy, as Jesus did.”
Focusing once again on the
theme of mercy, the Pope spoke especially about two areas where the Lord shows
“an excess of mercy”: in encounter, and in forgiveness.
“The first area where we see
God showing excess in his ever-increasing mercy is that of encounter. He gives
himself completely and in such a way that every encounter leads to rejoicing,”
Pope Francis said. The second area, he said, is forgiveness itself. God not
only forgives us, but helps to regain our dignity. Our response to God’s
superabundant forgiveness, he continued, should always be to preserve that
healthy tension between a dignified shame and a shamed dignity.”
The Holy Father concluded his
homily with a plea for gratitude: “In this Jubilee Year we celebrate our Father
with hearts full of gratitude, and we pray to him that ‘he remember his mercy
forever’; let us receive, with a dignity that is able to humble itself, the
mercy revealed in the wounded flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He prayed, “Let
us ask him to cleanse us of all sin and free us from every evil. And with the
grace of the Holy Spirit let us commit ourselves anew to bringing God’s mercy
to all men and women, and performing those works which the Spirit inspires in
each of us for the common good of the entire People of God.”
The full text of Pope
Francis’ homily for the Chrism Mass can be found here.
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