Reported by Parish SOCCOM (Jonathan J. Lucas)
Pictures by Parish SOCCOM (Euthalia, Romeo and Johnstone)
“The Church is human and ordinary in so many ways, and yet like the oils, God consecrates us to become extraordinary.” – Bishop Julius Gitom in his Homily during this year’s Chrism Mass in Sandakan.
Bishop Julius with parish priests from the Sandakan Diocese.
After being challenged by the pandemic restrictions for the past three consecutive years, the grace of God prevails by blessing the evening of the 8th of March 2023 as a time to celebrate this special Mass physically, as a community.
The Chrism Mass started at 7.30 pm held at the St. Mary’s Cathedral and was presided by His Lordship Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom, concelebrated with nine diocesan priests. A seminarian, undergoing his pastoral exposures was also assisting in the liturgy. In this Eucharistic celebration, the priests publicly renew their priestly promises before their bishop, and the Oils of Catechumens and the Sick are blessed while the Chrism Oil is consecrated.
In his homily, Bishop Julius started by portraying the significance of the Holy Oils. Although oil, specifically olive oil may be ordinary and common in our everyday lives, once blessed through the power of the Holy Spirit, it becomes extraordinary. It becomes the Holy Oil for the respective Sacraments which can be defined as an encounter between us with God, through Christ. From anointing us into the Body of Christ through Baptism to giving birth to priestly people through Holy Orders, once we are consecrated with the Holy Oils, we are incorporated into the Christ, who is the Anointed One Himself, sharing in His divinity to become priestly, prophetic and kingly people. The prelate also highlighted that Christ consecrates us, the Church to become part of His Body not because of anything that we have done, but because of what God does for us. Thus, as the oils are being blessed, His Lordship invited all to look upon Christ the Anointed One, who despite being crucified by our own sinfulness, yet He still chose us to be His “oil”.
His Lordship also emphasised the celebration of the ordained ministers of the Church as they renew their priestly vows and conveyed a fruitful message to His fellow priests. Coming from our own community, who are also ordinary people, priests are called to act in the name of Christ to serve God’s people by mediating His blessing in the world through the Church. The prelate reminded his brother priests, “While we serve to be the blessing to the people, we are also nourished within God’s people. We cannot be isolated from the community as we are together His chosen people. That is what we call a Synodal church, being united and nourished by God. Our service as priests calls us to nourish God’s people through the Word of God and His Sacraments, and renewing Jesus’s sacrifice by setting before the people a pastoral banquet to lead them into charity. Charity means that once nourished by the Word and Sacraments, we together can act as Godly people, imparting His blessing and mercy in the world.”
The prelate then highlighted that the ministry of the priests is the ministry of love which acts out God’s mercy to those with hardened or broken hearts. “But before that, we must change our own hearts, and always configure our life to Christ”, he pointed out to his fellow ministers. His Lordship continued by sharing his personal experience being fascinated and called to the life of a priest during his early years. However, once ordained, along the way, he had experienced a loss of that same attraction due to a familiar routine. Thus, it is vital to maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord through personal prayers and journeying with the laity through service while being nourished by one another with God’s love and mercy. That is exactly the Synodal process that we have undergone.
“We all may feel being attracted to the Lord in our own ways but before we realize it, it is actually the Lord who comes to us first,” as His Lordship ended his homily, he urged all to commit to being one Body of Christ and His powerful witnesses through our own services by first recognizing our sinfulness, but then letting God heal us and transform our hearts anew so that we can bring new life in our families, in our communities and in our Church.
After the homily, the nine diocesan stood before Bishop Julius to renew their priestly vow to serve the church, a promise which they first made at their ordination.
After the renewal of priestly commitments was the blessing of the Oils of Catechumen and the Sick followed by the consecration of the Chrism Oil.