Archbishop to faithful: be agents of love and healing in a broken world

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon said Catholics are anointed with Chrism for the present time, and the light of faith has to shine brightly and unambiguously even as the world becomes more turbulent.

In his homily at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, at the Chrism Mass on Monday, he commented on the state of the world, asking the congregation, “Are you looking on? With great joy? With great what?…with great concern.”

He said it is the most difficult time for the Caribbean since World War II, as an uncertain era was emerging. It is not a time, however, for Catholics to shrink or question faith. Archbishop Gordon said, “Brothers and sisters, the more difficult it becomes to live the faith, the more we have to hold tenaciously to the faith that has been handed to us from generation to generation”.

At the Mass, oils used in the sacraments of the Church were consecrated. In attendance were priests in the Archdiocese, who also renewed their priestly vows, and parish and non-parochial representatives collected bottled oils.

Archbishop Gordon stated that the oil of catechumens will bring many people into the Church, as will the oil of Chrism used for Baptism and Confirmation. Anointing with sacred oil sets the priest and faithful apart for mission. “It means the mission of the Church is not just for the priests and them to do; we all, we all participate in the mission of the Church. We all have a sacred responsibility to bring healing wherever there is pain and hurt. We all have a responsibility to be an agent of love and setting people free,” he said.

The blessing of the oils should not just be seen as an annual sacred ritual but needed for the Church to do her healing ministry.

Referring to the Gospel from Isaiah 61:1-3, 6, 8-9, Archbishop Gordon said Jesus shares His anointing through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and sacramental systems of the Church, as such Catholics “are to be agents of healing in a broken and divided world.”

Archbishop Gordon urged the people to not let sin be an obstacle to God working in and through their lives; he urged them to bring sin to Jesus and nail it to the cross.

He told the congregation, “I am sorry” three times for hurt caused to anyone by the Church, reminding that “all are the Church”.

Turning to face the priests seated in the sanctuary, he asked them to recall the promises they made at their ordination and the sacred gift of priesthood entrusted to them. Archbishop Gordon asked them to reflect on whether their heart is single-mindedly for God or has become “worldly”.

He invited them to search their hearts and examine their consciences to be able to recognise the ways in which they have fallen short of being holy priests. Archbishop Gordon said: “What God needs in the next time, in the age that we live, are men who are singleheartedly devoted to God”.

After the liturgy, Archbishop Gordon invited the young men and women in the congregation to stand and appealed to each group to have courage if they felt a tugging in their hearts for vocation. He directed them to contact Archdiocese Director of Vocations, Fr Kenwyn Sylvester. —LPG