Homily - Mass of The Oils - 1 April 2009 |
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Welcome all who have come from all parts of the Diocese, our priests, religious, principals of our schools and colleges, parishioners from many parishes and young people from Mercy College Mackay, and numerous other schools, and all those from the younger age group. The introduction this evening spoke of our being a gathering of many people from our widely scattered Diocese. Each year, we come together for this unique occasion, to bless the Holy Oils and recommit ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is really an Assembly of the Catholic community of Central Queensland and it looks towards another Assembly we are going to have in September, that will be a gathering for almost a week at St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon. Why are we having it? Well, I believe we have to check up from time to time to see if we are being faithful to the invitation of Jesus. What invitation is that? To work with Him to spread the Good News of God’s love – not just saying it, but doing something real to care for people and make Jesus known. Who is Jesus? For a start, He is God’s son, born 2000 years ago, the one on whom our lives are focussed. He is one of us, a brother, because he was a real human person, while never ceasing to be divine. He came to bring people back to God for many had walked away. He came especially to reach out to those who are often forgotten and he spelt it out in the Gospel words we have just heard: The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me Jesus was quoting the words of the Old Testament, which we proclaimed in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, almost the same words. So it is that Jesus understood His mission. It was about people – the poor, those in prison, the blind, the disadvantaged, in fact, everyone especially those who tend to be excluded. As disciples of Jesus, we are called not only to follow Him, but to work with Him, to be caught up in His mission, to be Jesus for others, all others, not just family or friends, or fellow parishioners, but everyone. We share this mission with the whole of God’s people, all Christians, all people of good will. There is a beautiful saying which says: Here in 2009, the mission of Jesus is our great invitation, we do so as the Catholic Church, but with all the Christian families where Jesus disciples are to be found. Just yesterday, the priests and principals came together with the Anglican priests and deacons, with their bishop, Godfrey Fryar, and Archbishop Bathersby from Brisbane, and we spoke about ways to work together, to push forward the Mission of Jesus, to draw people into the strengthening love of Jesus. As we prepare to gather for our assembly in September, I would suggest that we ask the question – how are we doing in sharing the mission of Jesus? In 2009, our diocese is one hundred and twenty-seven years old. This Cathedral is one hundred and ten years old. Thousands of people have shared the mission before us. It’s our turn now and how are we going? We are building on a proud story of people, religious and priests who have gone before us. I have asked that we come together in Assembly later this year, in September and the purpose is to review our past and to plan for our future. We cannot all be there, I am hoping each parish and each group will be represented, but we can all be there in spirit through prayer. In fact, I would like to invite you to recommence a campaign of prayer tonight, through which we pray every day for God’s guidance on our Assembly. During the months ahead, we will share thoughts about the Assembly and I am grateful to everyone involved in the preparation. I am grateful to each one of you. Our prayer together at midday, or thereabouts, unites our diocesan family in a tangible way. The background to the Assembly will be the way of life we call Stewardship. It reminds us that, in being asked to take up the mission of Jesus, we all have gifts to discover, to acknowledge, to develop and share and then come back to say thank you to our God for these blessings. Stewardship enables us to feel good about our gifts, but then to focus on our best efforts on other people, the surest way to get away from self centeredness which brings misery and loneliness. Likewise, we have focussed much on Evangelisation which is just another way of saying we take up the mission of Jesus, so that we can bring good news and hope to others. May I conclude by coming back to my focus for tonight, the Mission of Jesus. Jesus is the centre of everything, sent by God, He leads us to God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. What did He do for us? Our second reading tonight said it beautifully “He loves us and has washed away our sins with His blood”. Jesus could not have done more for us, yet now, He honours us by inviting us to share in His mission to the world. Our priests, gathered tonight, have generously immersed themselves in the mission of Jesus. We have been together these past few days renewing our acceptance of Jesus’ call and asking God’s Spirit to fill us with zeal and hope. Pray for your priests, love them without reserve and affirm them with your support. We all need to encourage others to join them. We will look overseas to see if some priests will join us. We will begin the process of the Permanent Diaconate, yet we will go on asking our young men to offer themselves for the most fulfilling life as a priest. With our priests, we acknowledge the tremendous work of so many who are good news people - parents, teachers, pastoral leaders, youth coordinators, carers, counsellors and nurses, our parishioners and our religious, who make a huge contribution to the life of our Diocese. Tonight we will all be invited to pause and consciously renew our decision to be a disciple of Jesus and to get involved in His mission to the people of our times. Our young people have celebrated World Youth Day and in so many ways, continue to respond to Jesus' invitation ‘You will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses’. My dear students here this evening and all young people, I ask you to look around this Cathedral at so, so many people who love Jesus and walk with him. I urge you to get to know Jesus and discover that He will be a friend for life. I would like to ask that tonight and throughout the year, culminating in the Assembly, we would ask ourselves the question –
Of course, all of this doesn’t flow from our own efforts alone, it is the work of grace, the work of the Spirit. Our call is to open ourselves to the grace, the burying of our own egos and let the Lord use us for His purposes. That we be a united diocesan family requires a generous effort on the part of us all. It requires that we work for consensus, which says while we may not achieve all that we hope for. It means that all of us, bishop, priests, religious and parishioners can grow in respect for each other, listen to other opinions not close our minds and hearts and recognise Jesus' way of putting people before issues and opinions. It entails forbearance and forgiveness which goes beyond ordinary human expectations. In other words, with God’s Spirit enabling us, we can foster unity with all our diversity. God is so good and gracious to us. Through Jesus, he has given us so many helps to our journey in life, the Eucharist, the Scriptures, the Sacraments. Tonight, we bless the oils that are used in some of the Sacraments - Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders. All the Sacraments are sacred moments which are celebrated with special rituals when God touches our lives. These holy oils will be sent throughout our Diocese, to remind us of the unity which binds us together. So, may I ask you to pray with me for God’s blessing on our whole Diocese, as we look forward to our Diocesan Assembly. The prayer is on our Mass leaflet: Loving God, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit We pray that we may become the people Give us the privilege to proclaim your good news Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. + Brian Heenan
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