The use of the oils by the Church has a long history. Oil has been used from time immemorial as a sign of strength and as a sign of healing. Athletes today rub their bodies with oil so that their strength might be evident to all. Moreover, before antibiotics and penicillin were discovered wounds used to be treated with oil for cleansing and to help the body in its healing process. This is the reason why in the Old Testament oil is used to indicate that a person has been selected to be set apart from God because of his/her important mission in life.
In the Old Testament when Kings assumed their leadership role in guiding the people in the ways of God, they were anointed with oil. Prophets, whose ministry was to speak to the people on God’s behalf were also anointed with oil. In the same manner priests who were responsible to lead the people in prayer and worship were also anointed with oil for their ministry.
This is the reason why this Mass of the Oils is a profoundly significant event for us as priests. It is during this celebration of the Eucharist that we make an explicit renewal of our priestly promises to serve God and God’s people to be the educators in the faith, by preaching, celebrating the Eucharist and the other sacraments (E.N. 68) It is profoundly significant that we are doing this centered on the Eucharist from which we take our origins and find the centre of our lives and ministry. We rejoice in our priesthood and pray that all of us priests and people continue to seek opportunities to encourage and to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
But this is also a celebration for all of us. In a few short moments I am going to bless the Oil of Chrism, the Oil of Catechumens and the Oil of the Sick which in turn will be taken to all our parish communities. What is the meaning associated with each oil? The Oil of Chrism is used at baptism and confirmation. Baptism is not simply a nice ceremony. At baptism we are filled with the presence of Jesus. Jesus starts to live in us. We become a new creation different from what we were before because we are now totally soaked and overshadowed with the power of Jesus. Through baptism, like Jesus we are kings as we guide ourselves and others in living according to his teachings. Like Jesus we are also prophets as we continue to proclaim by the way we live the values, the principles and the ideals of Jesus. We also share in the priesthood of Jesus as we worship and praise our God who has gifted us with so many amazing qualities.
Moreover, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Confirmation as making alive, make real once again the gifts of Pentecost (N. 1288). We know what happened at Pentecost. From being totally overcome by fear and anxiety the apostles became bold and ready to endure anything for Jesus because the Holy Spirit living in them gave them the necessary tools to continue His work. St Paul speaks about some of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor 2:4-11. We are powerful people indeed because of our baptism and confirmation. There is the need to meditate frequently and to deepen our knowledge of these gifts. Our children, our parents, all of us need to become ever more conscious of these wonderful means that God has given to each one of us especially during the preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Through the Oil of Catechumens, people preparing for baptism are strengthened to steer away from everything that is not of God in order to embrace what is of God. At this point I would like to encourage all our parish communities to promote such programmes as the RCIA and Catholics Returning Home. As a church we are called to evangelize. As a diocese, as a parish we exist in order to evangelize to talk about Jesus and what He stands for.
The Oil of the Sick is used so that the person concerned might receive healing from illness of mind, body and spirit as well as the forgiveness of sin. In his letter, the Apostle James encourages his community, “any one of you who is ill should send for the elders of the church and they must anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord Jesus and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up again, and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:14-15)
Finally, this Oil is blessed by me as the bishop. Why? To make us understand that this is the prayer of the whole church as it lived its life over these two thousand years. This is an awesome prayer. Moreover this blessing takes place at the Cathedral. Why? Because this is the mother church of the whole diocese. In this we are manifesting that all of us are invited in one big Catholic family. Vatican 11 describes the diocesan church in this manner. “A Diocese is a portion of the People of God which is entrusted to a bishop to be nurtured by him with the cooperation of the presbyterium (priests) in such a way that remaining close to its pastor and gathered by him through the Gospel and the Eucharist in the Holy Spirit, it constitutes a particular church. In this church, the one, holy and apostolic church of Christ truly exists and functions.”
In this celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice we know our deepest identity. The Mass of the Oils helps us to celebrate vividly the vision of our Diocese – “That every person belonging to the Diocesan faith community will be inflamed by the power and love of God”. Let us continue to embrace this journey with enthusiasm and with passion.
