Archbishop to faithful at remote Chrism Mass: To be anointed is to be sent forth

In a historic first, Archbishop Vigneron consecrates sacred oils without fellow priests or faithful, but reassures Church of shared mission

DETROIT — In his homily during the 2020 Chrism Mass from the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron told priests and faithful that the Lord makes it clear that to be anointed is to be sent — the words are “a duo,” he said, “an inseparable twinning.”

This year’s Chrism Mass was different from any other, as the archbishop did not celebrate with his fellow priests and faithful present but, like the rest of Holy Week, it was done remotely in order to combat the spread of COVID-19.

However, as the archbishop reassured the faithful, the Church can continue to be united in spirit and prayer during the time of separation, as a mystical body not limited by space or time.

“It is so very strange that the cathedral is, for all intents and purposes, empty, and it is by means of the media and television that you are participating in this most sacred rite,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “I give God thanks and praise thinking about what is, and not lamenting what isn’t.”

While the Chrism Mass is meant to bless the holy oils and Chrism that will be used throughout the year to anoint priests at their ordinations, catechumens as they enter the Church, and the sick as they lay dying, many of these ministries and rites have been postponed because of the coronavirus.

Normally celebrated on Holy Thursday, this year’s Mass was celebrated on Monday, April 6, to allow time for the sacred oils to be distributed by regional vicars to their respective parishes.

Despite the disruptions, the coronavirus, the archbishop reminded the faithful, is not a distraction from the Church’s mission as Christ’s faithful — namely, the faithful’s anointing, or being sent forth.

“To be anointed and to be sent each defines the other,” the archbishop said. “There is no mission, there is no being sent without being anointed. Without the anointing, the mission would be in vain. And there is no anointing except for mission. Everyone anointed is on the mission; our Lord implies that clearly in his preaching.”

Prayer intentions from the faithful brought forward during the Chrism Mass. “I ask all of you, please, who are praying with me from your homes or wherever you are watching, to be united in that prayer: each of us praying for all of us,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop Vigneron made reference to the Archdiocese of Detroit’s new mission in recent years, as laid forth in the 2016 synod.

“We have in our local Church been praying for a new Pentecost,” he said. “We have been praying that our anointing will take on a new life, a new strength — that we will have new vitality for the mission. And God has answered our prayers in so many ways. I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. We are living this new Pentecost.”

The archbishop said the blessing and consecration of the oils is one of God’s promises that this new Pentecost will continue.

“One of the things we reaffirmed in Synod 16 was that there are no bystanders in this mission of making disciples of all nations and in reshaping our world into a new creation,” the archbishop said. “We are all anointed with the spirit of Jesus Christ who was sent for this purpose. The truth of our being called and sent, of our being anointed and sent to go and unleash the Gospel, is a reverberation of the truth of who Jesus is.

“In this year, in this Lent, in these weeks of the pandemic, we are having a very particular experience of encountering Christ, growing in Christ and being called to witness Christ,” he added. “In a way, perhaps unlike anything most of us have ever experienced, we are encountering Christ in his crucified self on his way toward resurrection.”

Archbishop Vigneron said it is the faithful’s job to continue to share their anointing with those who are tempted to hopelessness and for those who mourn.

“I ask all of you, please, who are praying with me from your homes or wherever you are watching, to be united in that prayer: each of us praying for all of us,” the archbishop said. “That we will not flag in our mission and that we will unleash the Holy Spirit once again, because the world needs us.”

In his homily, the Archbishop said that the Archdiocese of Detroit is currently living through a “new Pentecost.”

Watch the Holy Week celebrations

This year’s Holy Week liturgies and celebrations are taking place remotely, in order to combat the continued spread of COVID-19. Livestreams of Holy Week Masses and liturgies can be found on the Archdiocese of Detroit’s website or Facebook page.