AICA: Pope at Chrism Mass: "We are anointed to anoint"

"Whoever learns to anoint and bless is cured of pettiness, abuse and cruelty," said Pope Francis this Thursday holy to the cardinals, bishops and priests who concelebrated with him at the Chrism Mbad celebrated this morning at the basilica of San Pedro. The Chrism Mbad is the first act of the Easter Triduum rites.

During the Eucharistic celebration, the priests renewed the promises made during their ordination and, afterwards, they blessed the oil of the sick, the oil of the catechumens and chrism.

The Pontiff explained in the homily that the Gospel of St. Luke presents Jesus Christ "in the midst of the crowd, surrounded and pressed by those who approach him to his patients, beg him to pray. to expel the evil spirits, to listen to his teachings and to walk with him ".

"The Lord has never lost this direct contact with people, he has always maintained the grace of closeness, with the people as a whole and with everyone in the midst of these crowds," said the pope, pointing out that In the Gospel we see the crowds. "They are transformed" when they interact with the Lord "who enters them as a shepherd into his flock."

In this sense, the Holy Father declared that in finding the Lord ", within the people, the desire to follow Jesus is awakened, admiration is born, discernment is narrowed".

For his part, the pope said that "the Church always has its eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, the anointed anointed that the Spirit sends to anoint the people of God".

For this reason, the pontiff reflected in four groups "the preferential recipients of the Lord's anointing: the poor, the prisoners of war, the blind and the oppressed".

"Throughout the life of the Lord, these anointed ones will acquire their own face and their own name," said the pope who recalled the widow among the poor "who anointed with her two coins that he had more than that day to live "" The anointing of this widow to give alms goes unnoticed to all, except those of Jesus, who look sweetly at his smallness, "he said.

In this line, the Holy Father also mentioned Bartimaeus "the blind beggar who has regained his sight and from there he has only eyes to follow Jesus on his way" and, finally, he emphasized the parable Good Samaritan.

"We priests are poor and we would like to have the heart of the poor widow when we give alms and we touch the hand of the beggar and look into our eyes.We, priests, are Bartimaeus and every morning, we stand up to pray while praying: "Lord, that I see" .We, the priests, are wounded at one time of our sin, beaten to death by thieves.And we want to be, first, in the compbadionate hands of the Good Samaritan, so that we may later have pity on others, "said the Pope.

In this sense, the Holy Father revealed that when he administered the sacrament of confirmation and ordination, he liked to "spread chrism on the forehead and in the hands of the anointed ones" because, with good anointing, one experiences that it is renewed. and "that whoever learns to anoint and bless is cured of pettiness, abuse, and cruelty. "

"I mean, we are not distributors of bottled oil, we are anointing ourselves distributing, distributing our vocation and our heart." When we stand on our shoulders, we remember the faith and the affection of our people, "he exclaimed.

In the end, the Pope encouraged the priests to be "with Jesus in the midst of our people" so that the Father "renew in us the outpouring of his Spirit of holiness and lead us to unite to implore his mercy for confident people and for the whole world "

Text of the homily of the Holy Father

"The Gospel of Luke that we have just heard makes us relive the emotion of this moment when the Lord makes the prophecy of Isaiah his own and solemnly reads it among his people." The synagogue of Nazareth was full of parents, neighbors, acquaintances, friends and not so much.Everyone had his eyes fixed on him, and the Church always on Jesus Christ, the anointed anointed that the Spirit sends to anoint the people of God.

The gospels often present to us this image of the Lord in the midst of the crowd, surrounded and squeezed by those who bring him closer to his patients, begs him to expel evil spirits, to listen to his teachings and to walk with him. . "My sheep hear my voice. . I know them and they follow me "(John 10: 27-28).

The Lord has never lost this direct contact with people, He has always maintained the grace of closeness, with the people as a whole and with every person in the midst of these multitudes. We see it in his public life, and it was like this from the beginning: the light of the Child gently attracted pastors, kings and old dreamers like Simeon and Anna. It was also like that on the Cross; his heart attracts everyone on his own (Jn 12,32): Veronicas, Cyrenees, thieves, centurions …

The term "crowd" is not disparaging. Perhaps in the ears of some, a crowd may seem like an anonymous, undifferentiated mbad … But in the gospel, we see that when they interact with the Lord – who enters it as a shepherd in his flock – the multitudes are changing. Inside the people is born the desire to follow Jesus, admiration is born, discernment is narrowed.

I would like to reflect with you on these three graces that characterize the relationship between Jesus and the multitude.

The grace of monitoring

Luke says that the multitudes "sought him" (Lk 4,42) and "followed" him (Lk 14,25), "pressed him", "surrounded him" (Lk 8,42-45) and "came" together "listen" (Lk 5,15). The tracking of people goes beyond any calculation, it is an unconditional pursuit, full of affection. This contrasts with the smallness of the disciples whose attitude towards people borders on cruelty when they suggest to the Lord to send them away, so that they can look for something to eat.

Here, I believe, clericalism began: in this desire to obtain food and comfort by ignoring people. The Lord cut short this temptation. "Give them something to eat!" (Mk 6,37) was the answer of Jesus; "Take care of people!"

The grace of admiration

The second grace that the crowd receives when she follows Jesus is one of admiration full of joy. The people marveled at Jesus (Lk 11:14), with his miracles, but especially with his person. People loved to greet him on the road, to be blessed and blessed, like the woman who blessed his mother in the middle of the crowd. And the Lord, on the other hand, admired the faith of the people, was happy and did not lose the opportunity to point it out.

The grace of discernment

The third grace that people receive is that of discernment. "The crowd realized (where Jesus went) and followed Him" ​​(Lk 9:11). "They were amazed at his doctrine, for he taught with authority" (Mt 7, 28-29, Lk 5,26). Christ, the Word of God made flesh, awakens in the people this charism of discernment; certainly not a discernment of specialists in controversial issues.

When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law quarreled with him, the people then discerned the authority of Jesus: the strength of his doctrine to penetrate into hearts and the fact that evil spirits obeyed him; and also, for a moment, leave without words those who implemented cheat dialogues. People appreciated that.

Let's deepen a little the evangelical vision of the crowd. Luke points out four main groups who are the preferential recipients of the Lord's anointing: the poor, the prisoners of war, the blind, the oppressed. He names them in general, but we later see with joy that, throughout the Lord's life, these anointed ones will acquire their own face and their own name.

Just as the anointing with oil is applied in one part and its beneficial action extends to the whole body, the Lord, taking the prophecy of Isaiah, names various "multitudes" "to whom the Spirit sends it, following the dynamics of what we may call a" preferential preference ": the grace and charisma given to a particular person or group are, like all the actions of the Spirit, for the benefit of all.

The poor (ptochoi) are those who are bent, like beggars who are inclined to ask. But she is also poor (ptochè) the widow, who anointed with her fingers the two coins she had only that day to live. The anointing of this widow to give alms goes unnoticed to all, except those of Jesus, who looks with kindness at his smallness. With this, the Lord can fully fulfill his mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the poor. Paradoxically, the good news that there are such people is heard by the disciples.

She, the generous woman, did not even know that she was "out of the Gospel", that is to say that her gesture would be published in the Gospel: l & # 39; 39; joyously announces that his deeds "weigh" in the Kingdom and are worth more than all the riches of the world, she saw it from the inside, like so many "neighbor" saints and saints.

The blind man is represented by one of the most sympathetic faces of the Gospel: that of Bartimaeus (see Mk 10: 46-52), the blind beggar who regained his sight and who, from there, did not have only eyes to follow Jesus the way. The anointing of the look! Our gaze, to which the eyes of Jesus can return, this gleam that only a free love can give, this glare which is stolen daily by the images interested or bbad which the world fills us. To name the oppressed (tethones), Luke uses an expression that contains the word "trauma".

Just mention the parable, perhaps Luke's favorite, the Good Samaritan who anointed with oil and bandages the wounds (traumata: Lk 10,34) of the man who had been beaten to death and lay on the edge of the road. The anointing of the wounded flesh of Christ! In this anointing, we can remedy all the traumas that have left people, families and entire cities, excluded and left out of history.

The captives are prisoners of war (aichmalotos), those who were taken to the tip of the spear (aichmé). Jesus will use this expression to refer to the captivity and deportation of Jerusalem, his beloved city (Lk 21,24). Today, cities are captivated not at the end of the spear, but through the more subtle means of ideological colonization. Only the anointing of our own culture, mixed with the work and art of our elders, can free our cities from this new slavery.

Coming to us, dear brothers priests, we do not have to forget that our evangelical models are this "people", this crowd with concrete faces, to which the anointing of the Lord strengthens and vivifies.

These are the ones who complete and realize the Spirit's anointing in us, who have been anointed to be anointed. We have been caught among them and we can without fear identify ourselves to these simple people. They are the image of our soul and the image of the Church. Each of them embodies the unique heart of our people.

We priests are poor and would like to have the heart of the poor widow when we give alms and we touch the hand of the beggar and look into his eyes. We priests are Bartimaeus and every morning we get up to pray and pray, "Lord, let me see" (Lk 18:41).

We priests are wounded at one point in our sin, beaten to death by thieves. And we want to be first in the compbadionate hands of the Good Samaritan so that we can feel sorry for others.

I confess that when I confirm and order, I like to spread chrism on the forehead and in the hands of the anointed. By anointing well, we feel that there is a renewed anointing. I mean, we are not bottled oil distributors. We are anointing ourselves distributing, distributing our vocation and our heart.

By anointing ourselves, we find the faith and the love of our people. We are anointing ourselves by dirtying our hands by touching the wounds, the sins and the anguish of the people; We plant the hands of perfumándonos to touch their faith, their hopes, their fidelity and the unconditional generosity of their deliverance.

He who learns to anoint and bless is cured of littleness, abuse and cruelty.

May the Father, with Jesus among our people, renew in us the outpouring of his Spirit of holiness and lead us to unite in order to implore his mercy for the people entrusted to us and for the whole world. Thus, the multitude of people, gathered in Christ, can become the only faithful people of God, who will have his fullness in the Kingdom (see the Priestly Ordination of Priests).