ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Your Eminence,
Dear brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Deacons,
Dear Seminarians,
Dear Young People from our schools,
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Today on this beautiful feast of Holy Thursday, all of us have come together as the People of God, as disciples of Jesus, to proclaim His love for us and to fulfill our Christian vocation. Above all, we gather to celebrate the great gifts of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, instituted by Jesus on the first Holy Thursday. Through these gifts all the faithful are sustained in their Christian lives.

Our vocation to follow Jesus began at our Baptism, when we were anointed with Chrism and baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. At our Confirmation we were once again anointed with Chrism and sealed with the Holy Spirit. And this morning an important part of our ceremony is the consecration of this holy Chrism, together with the blessing of the Oil of the Sick and the Oil of Catechumens.

All of us who have been baptized and confirmed are challenged on this day to renew the consecration of our Baptism and Confirmation. We have been anointed with Chrism to show that we all share—every man, woman and child in the Church—in Christ’s dignity as King and Priest and Prophet. In the Old Testament Kings and Priests and Prophets were anointed with oil. Jesus is our King and Priest and Prophet, and He was anointed directly with the Holy Spirit. When we Christians are anointed with Chrism, we receive the same Holy Spirit whom Christ possessed in fullness.

In the life of the Church there are different moments when we emphasize different vocations and different aspects of God’s wonderful plan for His Church. Today, Holy Thursday, the Church concentrates on the institution of the Eucharist and Christ’s gift of the priesthood. She emphasizes the importance of the vocation to the priesthood. The Church needs the priesthood. The People of God need the priesthood. Jesus Himself needs the priesthood to fulfill His plan of salvation. Without the priesthood there is no Eucharist. Without the Eucharist there is no Church. Today at this Mass I ask those young men who may experience a vocation to the priesthood to open their hearts to the call of our Lord and not to be afraid to say yes.

Holy Thursday is a day of solemn thanksgiving for the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood, His Paschal Meal and His sacrificial Supper, which we will emphasize even more later on this evening at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Today is also the time when we praise the Lord for our own Eucharistic vocation as priests.

On this special day I would like to address a particular message of solidarity, support and deep fraternal love to the many priests gathered here this morning—the priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, priests of religious congregations, and extern priests serving in the Archdiocese. A particular greeting goes to the priests who are sick, suffering or in special need.

Our lives as priests are so closely linked through the Eucharist to Christ’s work of salvation. We are so much a part of God’s plan; we are so much a part of our people’s lives; we are so much a part of Christ’s love. The laity and Religious present here in this Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and all the people of our parishes need our Eucharistic service and deserve our priestly fidelity.

In this context, my dear brother priests, let us ask ourselves this morning what Jesus means for us and what we mean for Jesus.

What does Jesus mean for us? In the word of God, in the Book of Revelation, we heard Him called: “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,” and the one who “loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood.”

Jesus is indeed faithful to His Father and to the mission that His Father gives Him. And in that fidelity He brings glad tidings to the lowly, glad tidings to the poor. Jesus is then the faithful witness who challenges us to proclaim in fidelity and joy His saving Gospel. What does Jesus mean for us? He means fidelity. Our fidelity to the priesthood and to the Church is possible because of His fidelity. Our fidelity is absolutely required because of His fidelity.

Jesus is our great High Priest, the friend who personally called us to share in His priesthood, and the one who has loved us, and whom we have endeavored to love and follow from our youth. What does Jesus mean for us? He is our Shepherd, the type and model of all our pastoral ministry. At the same time He is the example for our generosity, the inspiration for our joy, the strength for our Priesthood and for the sacrificial offering of our lives.

But what do we mean to Jesus? As His brother priests we are important to Him. We are important to His plan of salvation, important for His Church. Let us accept once again those words of the Book of Revelation as having special meaning for ourselves in the midst of God’s people. We heard proclaimed that Jesus “loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood,” that He has made us “a royal nation of priests in the service of his God and Father.”

My brother priests, we have been loved and redeemed by Christ and entrusted with the Eucharist and, therefore, with the mystery of redemption for our brothers and sisters. What love! What trust! What confidence Christ places in us! Christ shares with us the mission given to Him by His Father. His trust in us is at the center of all collaborative ministry. Christ needs us. He needs our hearts, our hands, our minds—our love. Christ needs our renewed and absolute fidelity.

And all this implies that Christ needs our perseverance amidst the joys and sorrows, the anxieties and trials, the hopes and disappointments of our daily lives as priests serving God’s people. Jesus, the faithful witness, insists on our personal fidelity. He calls us in spite of our imperfections, in spite of the limitations of our humanity, in spite of our weaknesses and in spite of our sins. He is always ready—in His love—to forgive us, to encourage and challenge us. On our part this requires a great response of love, with earnest effort and deep repentance for our sins.

In the Eucharistic celebration itself we humbly acknowledge our sins, saying: “I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” In addition we ask for the prayers of our Blessed Mother and all the angels and saints, and we confidently invoke God’s mercy and forgiveness. In the Sacrament of Penance, like all our fellow Catholics, we personally confess our sins and express a firm purpose of amendment. We strive moreover to make atonement to God for all our sins and the sins of the whole world. With deep fraternal grief we pray for our brother priests who in the past have seriously compromised the priesthood and also for those who have been falsely accused. We share the immense pain and affliction of those who have suffered through the sins of priests and Bishops. As ministers of reconciliation we know how much the world—ourselves included—needs the repentance, pardon, penance and new life that only God’s grace can bring about. As a presbyterate we renew our commitment to sacred celibacy, faithful service and holiness of life.

Are we, then, important for Jesus and His Church? Most assuredly! And is our effort valuable? And is our continued conversion necessary? And is our renewed fidelity to Christ a priority in our priestly lives and in our service to our people? We know that the answer is yes. And this Holy Thursday is the day for us to proclaim this clearly: to tell the world that we love Christ and His priesthood and we intend to live our vocation faithfully until death. It is also the day when Christ wants the world to know that He loves you His priests, that He stands by you and supports you, and, yes, asks from you a great deal of renewed dedication and generosity.

In dealing with the mystery of the Church, the Second Vatican Council says that the Bishop, by reason of his office, is the Vicar of Christ for his people, just as the Pope is the Vicar of Christ for the universal Church. But the Bishop cannot be separated from his priests. In the Bishop, joined with his priests, Vatican II tells us, our Lord Jesus Christ is present in the midst of those who believe (cf. Lumen Gentium, 21). This is not because we are worthy, but because Christ has willed it so.
This is of course a formidable responsibility for all of us, one that unites Bishop and priests in ever greater unity. It also gives the Bishop a particular responsibility constantly to proclaim Christ’s love—love for His people and love for you His priests.

And today, my brother priests, my final desire is to do just that—to proclaim Christ’s love for you—and in the name of Jesus, who as Son of Mary is our brother and High Priest, to thank you for what you are and for everything you do to serve the world with integrity, generosity and joy. Amen.