Unity: An Expression of God's Will

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of May 1, 2003)

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on April 17 during the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The images of the Lord Jesus at His Incarnation and Birth are very familiar: His Incarnation depicted by the Annunciation scene and His Birth by the Nativity scene. I invite us to contemplate a different image of Christ’s Incarnation and Birth, found in the Letter to the Hebrews. "…on coming into the world, Jesus said: ‘sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me: … Then, I said, "As is written of me in the book, I have come to do you will, O God"’" (Heb 10:5-7).

"I have come to do your will, O God." This image of Christ with His statement of intention and conviction is basic both to the imitation of Christ, to authentic Christian discipleship, for all of us called to share in Christ’s priesthood of the laity, and to priestly life and ministry for those of us privileged to share in Christ’s ministerial priesthood.

"I have come to do your will, O God." The genuine disciple or follower of Christ is the one who does God’s Will, imitating the Son of God made flesh Who obeyed God’s Will perfectly — Christ Jesus, into Whom we are baptized and in Whom we are rooted. Indeed, doing God’s Will makes us members of God’s family: "Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me" (Mk 3:35).

At this Chrism Mass, oils will soon be blessed and consecrated, which have an intrinsic connection with imitating Christ and following in His footsteps as a faithful disciple. The Oil of Catechumens is connected with the Sacrament of Baptism. "…bless this oil and give wisdom and strength to all who are anointed with it in preparation for their baptism" (cf. Ritual, Blessing of the Oil of Catechumens). The Oil of the Sick is used in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. "May your blessing come upon all who are anointed with this oil, that they may be freed from pain and illness and made well again in body, mind and soul" (cf. Ritual, Blessing of the Oil of the Sick). Sacred Chrism relates both to the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. "…make this mixture of oil and perfume a sign and source of your blessing. Pour out the gifts of your Holy Spirit on our brothers and sisters who will be anointed with it" (cf. Ritual, Consecratory Prayer [B]).

Yes, baptized into Christ Jesus, we begin to walk in newness of life by imitating Christ and obeying God’s Will as He did. Confirmed by the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened for our witness to Christ in the real world. In whatever vocation to which God calls us in order to live out our primary baptismal vocation to holiness, we seek to do God’s Will ever more faithfully and completely. Even in sickness, we are enabled to seek and to obey God’s Will.

At this Chrism Mass, the ministerial priesthood which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper, is the primary focus, both in the blessing and consecration of the oils and in the renewal of priestly commitment. Permit me now to speak to my brother priests more directly. "I have come to do your will, O God." How intrinsically linked to the living out of priestly life and ministry is this image of Christ with His statement of intention and conviction.

If these words should resonate within the minds and hearts of every disciple of Jesus, how much more should they resonate within us priests, who act in the person of Christ, Head and Shepherd of the Church! Did we not echo these words as we responded "Adsum" — "Present" — on the day of our priestly ordination? Do we not repeat them every morning as we greet the new day: "Here I am, Lord, I have come to do your will!"

"I have come to do your will, O God." What is God’s Will for us as priests ordained through the Sacrament of Holy Orders? Just as the beauty of a single diamond may be viewed from many angles; so God’s Will for us may be understood from a variety of perspectives. During this Chrism Mass, I invite you, my brother priests, to reflect with me on one of these aspects, namely, our unity. After all, at the Last Supper during which the first priests of the New and Eternal Covenant were ordained, Jesus prayed for them and for all their successors, including ourselves: "For these I pray … not for the world but for these you have given me for they are really yours. … O Father most holy, protect them with your name which you have given me [that they may be one, even as we are one]" (Jn 17: 9,11). Yes, my brothers, God wills that we be one with Christ, His Son and our Great High Priest, and through Him with one another. When we are one, we witness and testify in such a way as to invite people to come to faith in the only true God and in Him whom He has sent, Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 17:3). "I pray that they may be [one] in us, that the world may believe that you sent me" (Jn 17:21).

This unity, so desired by Christ, is symbolized tangibly in our midst and in the midst of God’s people assembled here this morning by the blessing of the oils and the renewal of priestly commitment. "This Mass [of Chrism], which the bishop concelebrates with his college of presbyters and at which he consecrates the holy chrism and blesses the other oils, manifests the communion of the presbyters with their bishop. … Presbyters are brought together and concelebrate this Mass as witnesses and cooperators with their bishop in the consecration of the chrism because they share in the sacred office of the bishop in the building up, sanctifying, and ruling of the people of God. This Mass is therefore a clear expression of the unity of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, which continue to be present in the Church" (Ceremonial of Bishops, no. 274).

This unity of ours, dear brother priests, is expressed by (1) our priestly ministry of word and sacrament, (2) your collaboration with me as the diocesan bishop, (3) our fraternal charity and outreach to one another and (4) our pastoral care for the people entrusted to us.

We are united in our ministry of word and sacrament. You and I pray every day for the transforming grace to see our people with the eyes of Christ, to love our people with the heart of Christ and to serve our people with the will of Christ. We speak to them, so often weary, a word that will rouse them, a word that will encourage and strengthen them. Indeed, we are reminded this very morning: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tiding to the lowly; to heal the brokenhearted…" (Is 61:1). The consecration of the holy chrism in which you explicitly are witnesses and cooperators by extending your right hand and the blessing of the oils of catechumens and of the sick tangibly reveal our unity in making holy the people entrusted to us, yes in the celebration of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick, but also and especially in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist.

We are united through our mutual collaboration, yours with me as your diocesan bishop to whom you promised respect and obedience, and mine with you whom I treasure as my principal coworkers in the pastoral ministry. As our Holy Father reminds us in Pastores Dabo Vobis: "Pastoral charity requires that a priest always work in the bond of communion with the bishop and with his brother priests, lest his efforts be in vain" (no. 23).

We are united in our fraternal charity and outreach to one another. Again, our Holy Father encourages us: "Christ must be our point of departure in rediscovering the source and the profound rationale for our brotherhood. ‘As I have loved you, you must also love one another’ (Jn 13:34)" (Letter to Priests, 2001, no 2). May we recommit ourselves today in this Mass to finding in Jesus the love we offer each other as brother-priests, so that this love — His love made present within us — may nurture our true unity as brothers in the priesthood and as servants to God’s holy people. In mutual prayer, support and forgiveness, we must carry one another, saying more by our actions than by our words: "He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother" (cf. Boys’ Town motto).

We are united in our pastoral care for the people to whom we are sent as living icons of the Good Shepherd. Soon, you and I will recommit ourselves to the priestly service of God’s people, uniting ourselves more closely to Christ … to bring his peace and love to [our] brothers and sisters, faithfully celebrating the Eucharist and the other liturgical services with sincere devotion, teaching the Christian faith … solely for the well-being of the people [we] were sent to serve (cf. Renewal of Commitment to Priestly Service).

This unity, so desired by Christ for His priests and so treasured by us — this unity finds its source in a unique way in the Eucharist, both Sacrifice and Sacrament. Do we not call the Holy Eucharist the very Sacrament of Unity? "Before the greatness of this mystery Saint Augustine exclaims: ‘O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no 1398). Is not the Holy Eucharist, in which Christ’s Dying and Rising is made present in our midst, a truly tangible expression of Christ’s doing the Father’s Will? Today, our Holy Father has entrusted to the whole People of God and especially to us priests his latest encyclical Ecclesia in Eucharistia. Eagerly we look forward to praying with it and making its insights our own! Yes, if all of us who form the Church — clergy, religious and laity — truly live in daily life what we celebrate in the Eucharist, then this Sacrament of Unity will make the Church the Communion of Unity. Again, the Catechism teaches us: "The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church" (no. 1396).

"I have come to do your will, O God." And His will is that all may be one, including in a unique way, those who share Christ’s ministerial priesthood. My brothers, may we become more truly one in holiness of life, in fraternal charity and in pastoral care, living out what we celebrate daily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice: Christ’s ever faithful, obedient, self-emptying love.

Yes, the image of Christ’s Incarnation in the Letter to the Hebrews is not only an image to be contemplated but also an image to be reproduced and lived every day. "I have come to do your will, O God." As we renew our commitment to live this way in service to our people, may they in turn, strengthened by our witness, be led to live in the same way: doing God’s Will faithfully every day!

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