Pope Francis has asked Priests in the world to always preach the whole truth of the Gospel with humility and respect and never be afraid to offer that truth just “one sip at a time,”
The Gospel is truth, “brimming with joy and mercy. We should never attempt to separate these three graces of the Gospel: its truth, which is non-negotiable; its mercy, which is unconditional and offered to all sinners; and its joy, which is personal and open to everyone,” he said on April 13 during the Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Presiding over the first of two Holy Thursday liturgies, Pope Francis blessed the Oils that would be used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination and the anointing of the sick.
With Holy Thursday commemorating the day Jesus shared his Priesthood with the Apostles, Pope Francis led the more than 1,500 Priests, Bishops and Cardinals in a renewal of their Priestly Vows and dedicated his homily to the importance of preaching with a joy that touches people’s hearts.
“The Priest makes the message joyful by his whole being,” he said, and it is in “little things” that this joy is best shared, he added.
For example, he said, by stepping into today’s “no man’s lands” to bring God’s mercy to forsaken situations, by picking up the phone and scheduling a needed meeting, by patiently allowing others “to take up our time.”
The “good news” of the Gospel is not a thing, he said, but a mission that brings “delightful and comforting joy” to the evangelizer.
The truth of the Good News could never be an abstract truth for those who do not let it fully and concretely shape people’s lives just “because they feel more comfortable seeing it printed in book,” he said in a homily delivered in Italian.
“The mercy of the good news can never be a false commiseration, one that leaves sinners in their misery without holding out a hand to lift them up and help them take a step in the direction of change,” Pope Francis said.
And the good news “can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is completely personal,” coming from a father who cannot bear to have even one of “his little ones be lost.”
The Holy Spirit always helps communicate the joys of the Gospel in many different ways for every age, every person and every culture. he said.
These joys “need to be poured into new wineskins,” so that “the good news is kept fresh — and preserving it is necessary — without turning sour but being poured out in abundance.”
Priests have to learn from Jesus that “announcing a great joy to the poor can only be done in a respectful, humble, and even humbling, way.”
“Evangelization cannot be presumptuous. The integrity of the truth cannot be rigid,” he said, because the truth was made flesh, was born a tender baby, and was a man who died on the cross.
The Holy Spirit teaches the whole truth, but “he is not afraid to do this one sip at a time.” Let the Spirit tell “us in every situation what we need to say to our enemies” as he illuminates every small step forward.
“This meekness and integrity gives joy to the poor, revives sinners, and grants relief to those oppressed by the devil,” the Pope said.
Later in the day, the Pope celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at a Prison 45 miles from Rome, housing men and women who testified as witnesses for the State against associates or accomplices. He later washed the feet of 12 inmates. CNS
In another development, at the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka in Accra, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, speaking on the importance of the celebration of the Chrism Mass, said it was to give thanks to God for the gift of the Priesthood to which Christians are called by virtue of their Baptism, Angela Ofosu Boateng and Doreen Darko report.
The Archbishop blessed the Oils of Catechumens and the Sick and consecrated the Sacred Chrism.
He explained that the Oil of Catechumens was to fortify them to be victorious in their struggle against evil; by their anointing, Christ takes possession of them and becomes their strength.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said Christ in His ministry, encountered sick people and healed them in different ways. This, he said, showed Christ’s love and closeness to the afflicted and affected, adding that He was a support to many in times of human frailty.
He noted that the Oil of the anointing of the sick brings Christians out of the darkness of sin into the wonderful light of Christ, saying that the spirit of God had sent Christians to bring Good News to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and give sight to the blind.
The Chief Shepherd of Accra said the Oil of Sacred Chrism unlike the other two, is consecrated through the prayer of consecration and breathing over it by the Bishop. It evokes Christ the anointed one and is used at Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination, thus making all participants in the mystical priesthood.
He said through the Sacred Chrism, “we obtain participation in the divine love and we are expected to be truly anointed people to the world”.
From Jasikan, Damian Avevor reports that Most Rev. Gabriel A.A. Mante, Bishop of the Diocese, called on Priests, Religious and lay faithful of the Diocese to endeavour to show mercy to people who wronged them.
Delivering the homily during this year’s Chrism Mass concelebrated by all the Priests in the Diocese at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church at Chinderi, Bishop Mante urged them to be courageous to encounter Jesus as the Samaritan woman.
He said by encountering Jesus, their lives would be transformed, urging them to lead lives devoid of prejudice and appealed to the Priests to anticipate the needs of the flock and make the right intervention at the right time.
He stressed that it was their divine calling to respond appropriately to the needs of the people with love and compassion as Christ did. The Bishop blessed the Oils of the sick and Catechumens to be used throughout the year in the Church and consecrated the Oil of Chrism.
The highlight of the ceremony was the renewal of Priestly commitments by all the Priests.
