Archdiocesan Catholics called ‘to holiness and mission’ at chrism Mass

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson blesses the oil of the sick on March 31 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis during the archdiocese’s annual chrism Mass. Assisting him at right is seminarian John Fritch, a member of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Martinsville. Standing at left is transitional Deacon Timothy Khuishing, who ministers at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Benedictine Sister Kathleen Yeadon called Tuesday of Holy Week in the archdiocese “probably my favorite day of the year.”

This year, that day fell on March 31. It was special for her because on that day she took part in the archdiocese’s annual chrism Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.

Sister Kathleen gathered with laity, religious men and women, deacons, priests and Archbishop Charles C. Thompson to witness some 140 priests serving in the archdiocese renew their ordination promises. The archbishop also blessed oils used in the dedication of churches and altars and the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, holy orders and the anointing of the sick. (See a photo gallery from the Mass | Watch the Mass on video)

“I’ve been coming for years,” she said. “It’s the gathering of the archdiocese to receive this gift [of the oils] and to bless our priests and support them, and to support each other.”

Representatives of many of the 125 parishes across central and southern Indiana received blessed oils that they then took back to their faith communities to be used as soon as the Easter Vigil on April 4, in which many being received into the Church would be baptized and all would be confirmed.

‘No spectators among us’

Through these sacraments, Archbishop Thompson said in his homily, each member of the faithful is called to take part actively in carrying out the Church’s mission of evangelization.

“There are to be no spectators among us,” he said. “Each baptized member, in accordance with that which is proper to his or her status, vocation or way of life, is called to a life of holiness and mission. Not just for a few, but for all.”

Taking the Gospel out into the world is a challenge today, Archbishop Thompson noted, saying that the faithful are called to build up “a culture of hope for a deeply wounded humanity hopelessly overwhelmed by a deeply polarized world.”

As difficult as this mission might be today, Archbishop Thompson exhorted his listeners to take it up, even if they felt they weren’t up to the task.

“None of us—clergy, religious or laity—should wait until being perfect to embrace the call to holiness and mission,” he said. “We’re not called so much to be perfect as to be faithful.

If we wait for perfection, we’ll be waiting forever.

“Rather, we present ourselves to the Lord as we are and serve others from both our gifts and our own woundedness. In fact, some of the most effective or fruitful ministry is carried out within the context of experiencing the cross in our own lives as we serve the needs of others.”

Among those listening to the archbishop call forth archdiocesan Catholics to mission was Violet Falcone, 15, a freshman at Seton Catholic High School in Richmond. The chrism oil that Archbishop Thompson blessed during the Mass will be placed on her forehead when she receives the sacrament of confirmation in November.

Having taken part in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis last year, worshipping with Catholics from across the archdiocese at the chrism Mass and looking forward to being confirmed, Violet sounded ready to do her part to share the Gospel.

“I’m excited to grow in my faith and be in the Church more,” she said.

Knowing that priests, religious and lay Catholics from across central and southern Indiana were in attendance with her at the chrism Mass helped her know that she wasn’t alone in the mission that lay before her.

“It shows the unity of the Church, bringing everyone together,” Violet said of the congregation at the Mass. “It shows how big the Catholic community is and how you have a lot of support from everyone.”

‘Continuing the work’

Prior to the Mass, that support was shared between retired Father William Ernst, 87, a priest of nearly 62 years, and transitional Deacon Samuel Hansen, 26, who will be ordained an archdiocesan priest on June 6.

It may be a little surprising that Father Ernst, with so much ministry under his belt, said that young priests and those about to become priests like Deacon Hansen are role models for him.

“I admire their dedication, and I see them as role models,” said Father Ernst, who lives in retirement in New Albany. “They have new enthusiasm and new ideas. They’re continuing the work.”

For his part, Deacon Hansen sees deep meaning in knowing that he and priests like Father Ernst, who are old enough to be his grandfather or even his great-grandfather, are “all doing God’s work.”

“It’s both an honor and gives me a little bit of pressure,” said Deacon Hansen, who serves at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis. “It shows me that I’ll be inheriting the work of Jesus Christ as a priest. But there are also big shoes to fill in the legacy that these men carry.”

Father Liam Hosty was in the position of Deacon Hansen at last year’s chrism Mass, seeing the chrism oil blessed that would anoint his hands in a couple of months.

This year, he renewed his ordination promises for the first time, doing it with brother priests of all ages and from all over the world serving in the archdiocese.

“There’s a strong sense of fraternity and belonging,” said Father Hosty. “It’s kind of surreal to renew those promises with my brother priests today.”

Since last July, Father Hosty has served as parochial vicar at St. Ann Parish in Indianapolis and St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville. He says his life and ministry as a priest so far have been “a huge life of grace.”

“It’s been an incredible gift,” he said. “It’s really out of this world to hear confessions, say Mass, to anoint people on their deathbed. And I know that it’s not my priesthood. I’m sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.”

‘A current center of Catholicism’

In his homily, Archbishop Thompson said that the oils he would soon bless “serve as a source of divine grace to strengthen and transform those who make up the Church, both local and universal.”

The transformation that has happened in central and southern Indiana through the gift of God’s grace given in the sacraments has started to become noticed far beyond the archdiocese’s boundaries, Archbishop Thompson noted.

Because of the national Catholic events that have happened here or are scheduled to take place here in the future, the archbishop said that the Church in central and southern Indiana “has been referred to by many as a current center of Catholicism for the United States.”

“That’s the fruit of the great work and ministry in that pursuit of holiness and mission to which so many have given great witness,” Archbishop Thompson went on to say.

This “pursuit of holiness and mission” seems to be bearing fruit in many archdiocesan parishes that are seeing a rise in the number of adults being received into the Church, a phenomenon that is happening in dioceses across the country, according to numerous reports.

Leroy Martin, who said it was “humbling” for him to receive blessed oils at the chrism Mass for St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville, said those oils would be used to anoint 23 adults who were set to be received into the Church at his Batesville Deanery faith community’s celebration of the Easter Vigil.

“We’re probably going to be there until midnight or later,” Martin said. “It means our Church is growing. That’s the main thing, to go out and bring people in.”

It’s that work of evangelization, which happens in the ordinary daily life of faith of Catholics across central and southern Indiana, that Archbishop Thompson called the congregation to do in his chrism Mass homily.

“Each one here, anointed by the Spirit, is called to go forth and make a difference in faithful witness to missionary discipleship in Jesus Christ,” he said. “We need only keep in mind that we are mere instruments, vessels, through which the Lord Jesus Christ is transforming the world in bringing about the kingdom of God, where so many are caught up in the violence, in the wars and in the injustice of our day.”
 

(To view more photos from the chrism Mass, click here. To watch a video of the Mass, go to cutt.ly/2026chrismMass.) †