Gospel: The Chrism Mass

The Chrism Mass is one of the most solemn and important liturgies of the liturgical year. It is held in the Cathedral of the Diocese, usually in the morning of Maundy Thursday, although some Dioceses hold it in some other day during the Holy Week especially if the parishes of the Diocese are very far from the Cathedral, and the priests need to be present in their parishes for the Lord's Supper later that day.

During the celebration, the priests renew their sacerdotal vows. The name of the Mass comes from the blessing of the holy oils used in the sacraments during the year by the Bishop of the Diocese, which are given back to the priests for the use of their parishes. 

The Rite of Reception of the Oils by the parish priests is a sign of their unity with their Bishop and the Diocesan Church. Whenever the holy oils are used, the ministry of the Bishop who consecrated them is symbolically present. The oils distributed are meant to last all year until the next holy week, but the Cathedral keeps extra oil in case the parishes run out of it.

The readings during the mass all pertain to the priesthood, and the Gospel is lifted according to St Luke. Jesus came to Nazareth where He had grown up, and went according to His custom into the Synagogue on Sabbath Day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found this writing:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight of the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and all eyes in the synagogue looked intently at Him.

He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." (The Gospel ended here but it is also written that after Jesus said this, He was dragged out of the Synagogue by angry Nazarenes to be pushed off a cliff).

The Gospel tells us about the priesthood, and how it relates to Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, from whom the sacrament comes from. The ministry of the priesthood gets its efficacy from the Spirit of the Lord, and this ministry must extend to the poor, to give them glad tidings as a way of ministering to them. The priests should also set captives free, and in many cases, this pertain to emotional and spiritual captivity. It is the responsibility of priests to open the eyes of the spiritually blind, too.

The priesthood should also help the oppressed and to defend them by saying statements related to political and social dimensions of human life. Lastly, the ministry should also proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord, which pertains to our liturgical calendar as a way of worship and adoration.

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