Chrism Mass Homily (part 1)
This is our first Chrism Mass during the COVID19 pandemic. We did not have it last year and I wondered if we would – indeed – have it this year. I am grateful to God we are able to come together.
As you know, reading God’s Word different things can happen:
We are very familiar with Isaiah’s call on this day: “the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me – we naturally think of the anointing we received at our ordination – He has sent me”. Anointed and sent! Anointed to be sent. In fact we heard it twice today because Jesus quotes this passage in today’s Gospel. I’d say, we could even link these words to the motto that still hangs here in the Cathedral: “baptised and sent” – anointed and sent
Then comes, sent to whom and what for: to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to comfort all who mourn, to set prisoners free...
It is here that COVID19 gives a new faces to this passage. If it happens to me, how much more to you who have been entrusted with parishes:
As you know, reading God’s Word different things can happen:
- We find something new even though we have read the text many times before;
- The context in which we live gives a new light to what we read.
We are very familiar with Isaiah’s call on this day: “the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me – we naturally think of the anointing we received at our ordination – He has sent me”. Anointed and sent! Anointed to be sent. In fact we heard it twice today because Jesus quotes this passage in today’s Gospel. I’d say, we could even link these words to the motto that still hangs here in the Cathedral: “baptised and sent” – anointed and sent
Then comes, sent to whom and what for: to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to comfort all who mourn, to set prisoners free...
It is here that COVID19 gives a new faces to this passage. If it happens to me, how much more to you who have been entrusted with parishes:
- I see faces of people who struggled with lock-downs looking forward to be set free (we ourselves felt it being unable to gather the people in prayer);
- The second wave was hard on us and we found ourselves praying regularly for those who were dying and consoling their families. We ourselves were part of them when Fr Alwyn Zothansanga MSFS died in January or when the bishops and the whole church mourned the death of archbishop Abel Gabuza;
- We’ve been giving new sight to those who wondered where God is in all this. Listening to their stories and their cry I felt the familiar experiences of those in the Bible who challenged God in the midst of their sufferings;
- COVID19 has deepened the reality of violence in our country. Just a few days’ ago, LIPHIMBO LABOMAKE issued a statement about the “horrific stories of intimate partner violence” but their statement also says: “the responses and the reactions to the reports of these cases and some of their comments have been insensitive and appalling to say the least” There is a terrible need for healing in our families and a real need to put an end to our violence!
- There is also need for healing in those who have gone through COVID19 and saw their lives at risk. They survived but there is something that has not healed. Their relatives also cry for healing because they felt powerless seeing them sick and being unable to help them.
Click HERE to view photos of the celebration
