Bishop Jugis preaches unity, forgiveness at Chrism Mass as priests renew promises
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis took special care during this Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Church to emphasize unity during his homily at the annual Chrism Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral. More than 90 priests from around the Diocese of Charlotte attended the Mass on a fine spring day, renewing their priestly promises to Holy Mother Church and their bishop.
Bishop Jugis addressed his brother priests during his remarks, reminding them that there is unity in Christ.
“This coming together as brother priests at the Chrism Mass especially demonstrates in a very visible way the unity of the priesthood in Christ. No matter where we serve in the diocese, wherever we exercise our priestly ministry in many different locations, when we come to this Chrism Mass, we see again what we knew all along – even though we may be separated geographically by the distance of miles – we see once again made manifest that we are all brothers in one priesthood and are united as one,” he reminded them.
Bishop Jugis stressed to them, as Jesus did to His disciples that, “‘You are all brothers!’ How true this is of the priesthood…What is it that unites us as brothers? The grace of the sacrament of holy orders. There are nearly 100 men here today who go by the same name, 'alter Christus.' We all have the same name. How’s that for unity?
“Our love for Jesus Christ unites us as brothers, our love for the priesthood unites us as brothers. Our love for the Church unites us as brothers. Our love for the work of salvation unites us as brothers. Our love for each other – our love for each other – unites us as brothers. ‘You are all brothers,' Jesus tells us.”
Bishop Jugis addressed how "our old enemy" original sin has left divisive tendencies in the human heart, a tendency to separate from one another.
“The remedy we know for all of those tendencies that original sin has left behind in us, the remedy is love. There can be no true unity without unconditional mutual love, and the readiness to serve each other generously and an ability to forgive up to seventy times seven.”
He explained that priests are all brothers in the priesthood because they are all brothers of Christ first and foremost.
“What a great name for a religious order. Brothers of Christ. And in fact it is the name of a religious order. It is a description of the order of the priesthood.”
Bishop Jugis emphasized that every day priests pray to remain deeply united to Jesus when they celebrate Mass, and especially before they receive Holy Communion, praying to be always faithful to the commandments and to never be separated from Christ.
“He is the source of our unity, our brother Christ. It is a very special relationship we have with the Lord to not only call Him Master and Teacher, Savior, Redeemer, but our brother in the priesthood.”
Before renewing their priestly promises, Bishop Jugis recalled that he and the priests gathered exercise their ministry in a divided, quarrelsome American society, but the Chrism Mass manifests what is always present among them – that although the society is quarrelsome and divided, he and his brother priests see unity in Christ the High Priest as His brother priests.
Concelebrating the Chrism Mass were Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese; Father John Putnam, judicial vicar of the diocese; and 97 more diocesan and religious order priests who gathered around the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
All the priests also stood during the blessing of the sacred chrism with hands outstretched, joining with Bishop Jugis in prayer as he performed the blessing rite.
The oils blessed during the chrism Mass are used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, as well as for ordination of priests and the consecration of churches.
Bishop Jugis stirred balsam into the chrism to give it a sweet perfume and breathed the "breath of the Holy Spirit" over the chrism.
In his final remarks before the conclusion of the Chrism Mass, Bishop Jugis shared that there is an increased interest among young people in the diocese for the priesthood and religious life, and he encouraged the priests and all gathered to promote vocations.
“The college seminary is our response to increased interest in that age group. I ask you to please continue to talk about the priesthood and the consecrated life to the young people in your faith formation classes and in your youth ministry programs, because that personal contact makes all the difference when a young person is considering special service to the Church,” he concluded.
After Mass, deacons divided the blessed oils into smaller oil stocks that will be distributed to all 92 parishes and missions across the diocese for use in sacramental celebrations throughout the upcoming year.
-- SueAnn Howell, senior reporter