On this second day of Holy Week we in the Diocese of Richmond will gather this evening at 6 PM for the one mass each year when a diocese celebrates the unity that Jesus called for in Jn 17,
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world... so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
While this mass is normally celebrated during the day on Holy Thursday, because of the geographical size of the diocese, our Bishop moves this mass to Monday so that the largest possible number of the clergy and lay faithful can participate.
It is called the Chrism Mass because it is here that the Bishop consecrates Chrism, and blesses the Oil of the Sick and Oil of Catechumens to be used in churches around the diocese. Chrism is not just blessed but consecrated because it is the oil used in the sacraments that impart the Holy Spirit in a permanent way: Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. Through the one Holy Spirit we are made one Church.
This is also the mass at which the unique role of priests as the closest collaborators of the bishop is celebrated. In the words of the Second Vatican Council:
Bishops should always embrace priests with a special love since the latter to the best of their ability assume the bishops' anxieties and carry them on day by day so zealously. They should regard the priests as sons and friends and be ready to listen to them. Through their trusting familiarity with their priests they should strive to promote the whole pastoral work of the entire diocese. (CD 16)
Here in Richmond this year's Chrism Mass marks the beginning of a transition. On Saturday Bishop DiLorenzo will celebrate his 75th birthday and send to the Holy Father his letter of resignation. In all likelihood this will be his last Chrism Mass as Bishop of Richmond. For the priests in the diocese we are reminded that our promise of respect and obedience is to the office and not the individual bishop. When we are ordained we promise respect and obedience not just to the bishop who ordains us but to his successors, no matter who they are. For the unity of the Church, each time a new bishop is installed we must lay aside the natural affinity that we have for the bishop who ordained us, the bishop that we know; and give our full respect and obedience to the one Bishop of Richmond from the moment of his installation.
When the Chrism Mass is complete the priests take the oils out across the diocese and for the next year maintain the unity of the Church in the proclamation of the gospel, and the celebration of sacraments. From the grandeur of the Cathedral to the smallest parish church in the most remote corner of the diocese, we remain the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Christ 2000 years ago.
