Chrism Mass Homily

April 15, 2025

St. Joseph Cathedral

 

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

What an honor and grace to celebrate my first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Burlington.  Looking back on my years as a priest, the Chrism Mass has always been one of the liturgical highlights of the year.  Gathering with the priests serving in Vermont, along with representatives from parishes, schools, and other Catholic groups from around Vermont has always provided a unique opportunity of proclaiming our Catholic faith, our faith in Jesus Christ, in our most perfect prayer, the Holy Mass. Here we make Christ present, not just in an assembly gathered in His name, but present body, blood, soul and divinity, the crucified, resurrected and glorified Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.  We are also privileged to participate in the blessing of the oils that will be used around the diocese in baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick. Thank you all for being here today.

While a homily is usually intended to break open the Word of God in order to help us all apply it in our lives, the Chrism Mass is a special opportunity to consider the life and role of the priest in the life of the local church.  Therefore, I ask the understanding of all present as I address most of my words to my brother priests, my primary assistants in the vineyard of the Lord.  While addressing them, I pray my words may enrich and challenge all gathered in the Cathedral today and those joining us via livestream.

In preparing this homily I was struck in a particular way by the words of the Prophet Isaiah and the fact that our Lord chose to quote these words at the very beginning of his public ministry:

“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 to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free.

and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One, at the very beginning of his public ministry announces that he has come to proclaim glad tidings, to proclaim liberty to captives and to proclaim a year of favor.  He reminds his listeners and us of what is essential to his ministry.  And he will add more to these essentials as his ministry moves toward Jerusalem, including his command to “do this in memory of me.” As ministerial priests we are also anointed at our ordinations to follow the example of Christ and to make known the wonders of God’s love, to proclaim glad tidings, forgiveness and favor; to teach those we serve what is most necessary in life. As I consider you my brothers gathered here today, I am reminded that am looking upon hundreds of years of collective faithful ministry, the dedicated proclamation of the good news of salvation and the faithful celebration of the mysteries of salvation in the sacraments.  We have accepted the responsibilities placed upon us through our ordinations and in doing so have understood what is most important as we have brought Christ to the world, and to the people of Vermont. Thank you, brothers, for your faithful ministry and witness to Christ. However, despite our faithfulness to the proclamation of the Good News, I would be foolish not to acknowledge the frustration that we might be experiencing as priests.  For while we may be faithful to the proclamation, we cannot compel our people to accept the proclamation and embrace the call of Christ.  For all the times we have had the opportunity to bring Christ to others in word, in sacrament and in service, time and time again, it seems that our efforts were and are unsuccessful. Our proclamation seems to fall on deaf ears and our efforts seem to bear little to no fruit. What is most necessary seems lost on those we meet and serve. It can be so frustrating.

Over the last 25 years, we have seen a continued decrease in weekly Mass attendance, declining sacramental practice, fewer vocations, significant financial burdens and on-going administrative challenges at our parishes, schools and diocese, and the list of ministerial frustrations grows.  The reasons for these declines and apparent failures are many. Some are the result of the Church’s own actions, and some we have no control over whatsoever: an aging population, declining birth rates, people leaving Vermont for economic and other reasons. More and more we seem to be trying to plug holes in a dam with ever-increasing leaks and ever-decreasing resources to address them and this can distract us from the essentials of our priesthood. Add to this the challenge of our Chapter 11 reorganization, and I understand why priests might easily fall prey to disillusionment and question whether they are making any difference in the lives of the people they have given their lives to serve.

I wish that I could stand at this pulpit today and tell you, my brothers, that I have a fool-proof plan to reverse the present course of the diocese.  That after nine months as your bishop the Lord has provided me with the knowledge necessary to mark a clear path forward and make the challenge we presently face a thing of the past.  I wish I could say that starting today everything was going to be better, and not just better, but perfect.  But I can’t.  At this moment I have received no special revelation regarding a clear path forward.

So, what are we to do brothers, and as my dear family in Christ?

At this moment in our diocesan history, I have the sense that we are being asked to embrace more and more the spirit of the earliest Christians, who had nothing but the Good News, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the support of one another. Their complete trust in the Lord and their willingness to lay down their lives for one another and for the faith changed the world.  As was noted by non-believers, “see how they love one another!”  What was the pastoral plan they followed?

“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” Acts 2:42

Or, perhaps we should consider the present situation a bit closer to home. We find ourselves like Bishop de Goesbriand in 1853; he had a small group of priests, faithful scattered around the state and limited resources to meet the demands of building up the Church in Vermont.  It must have seemed daunting to the new bishop and his priests, yet through prayer, sacrifice and an utter reliance of the providence of God, the Church in Vermont grew and flourished. Under the guidance of our first bishop, those early priests regularly gathered together to be united in prayer and fellowship.  Facing the demands of caring for an entire state, they never neglected the fellowship which their anointing in ordination brought about. They remembered what was essential, what was truly necessary to be the church.

Like the early Christians and the first priests of our diocese, I believe we are being asked by the Lord to remember what is necessary for our church and our faith in order to fulfill the anointing we received at our ordination. I also believe that all the faithful gathered here, watching from home, or who will gather in their parishes in the coming days are also being asked to remember what is truly necessary to be the church. While buildings like this cathedral are beautiful and can be a positive aid in our worship of God, they are not necessary for the word to be proclaimed and the bread to be broken; think of the early church or the beginning of our diocese.  Perhaps in the midst of the many challenges we are facing as priests and as God’s holy people we are being reminded of what is most essential and necessary.  Perhaps we will continue to grow smaller in numbers.  Perhaps more buildings may need to close. Perhaps more parishes will merge, fewer Masses celebrated and priests will need to travel more to bring the Eucharist and the other sacraments to our people.  Whatever the future holds, the Lord is asking us to place our hope in Him, not in buildings, Mass schedules and programs. Remember what Jesus came to proclaim, we are called to do the same.

In closing I share some words of St. Francis of Assisi to my brother priests:

“Remember your dignity, then, my … (brothers).  You shall make and keep yourselves holy because God is holy.  In this mystery God has honored you above all other human beings, and so you must love, revere, and honor him more than all others.  Surely this is a great pity, a pitiable weakness, to have him present with you like this and be distracted by anything else in the whole world. Our whole world should be seized with fear, the whole world should tremble and heaven rejoice, when Christ, the Son of the living God is present on the altar in the hands of the priest.What wonderful mystery! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility… That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble himself like this and hide under the form of a little bread, for our salvation.  Look at God’s condescension, my brothers, and pour out your hearts before him. Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by him.  Keep nothing for yourselves, so that he who has given himself wholly to you may receive you wholly.”

My brother priests, while I do not have answers to all the challenges we face, but I have a conviction that we will not find those answers until we dedicate ourselves more perfectly to the anointing we received at our ordination.  I have already asked you to join me in greater prayer and fasting. I am asking us all to follow the example of the earliest priests in Vermont who prayed together and supported one another in ministry. As we renew our priestly promises today, may we give Him everything we have and are so that like him we can proclaim the good news of salvation to everyone we meet.  May we set aside anything that distracts us from the truly necessary things, to abandon ourselves more completely into the hands of the one who is the answer to all our deepest questions and deepest longings.  May we be willing to let go of our plans in order to be open to his perfect plan for us and the Diocese of Burlington.

 

God alone suffices!