Homily for Chrism Mass

March 31, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 61:1-3, 6a,8-9
Psalm 89:21-22, 25, 27
Revelation 1:5-8
Luke 4:16-21

Bishop’s homily in English begins at paragraph 7.

Las lecturas de esta Misa Crismal nos hablan, con una profunda unidad, del misterio de ver. El profeta Isaías anuncia un pueblo que será visto y reconocido como bendecido por el Señor. Ya no oculto ni desfigurado, sino revelado en su verdadera identidad. 

En el Evangelio, Jesús proclama que ha venido a dar vista a los ciegos. Pero hay una paradoja: todos lo miran, y sin embargo no todos lo ven. Porque la verdadera visión no es solo con los ojos, sino con el corazón iluminado por la gracia.

Y en el Apocalipsis, esta visión llega a su plenitud: todos verán a Cristo, incluso aquellos que lo traspasaron. Entonces ya no habrá más ceguera—solo la verdad que se revela.

En este camino entre ceguera y visión se sitúa el sacerdocio. El sacerdote es ungido no solo para ver, sino para ayudar a otros a ver: ver la presencia de Dios donde el mundo no la percibe, ver dignidad donde hay olvido, ver gracia donde hay herida.

Así, el sacerdote ungido se convierte en instrumento de esa luz de Cristo que abre los ojos. La pregunta, entonces, es doble: ¿vemos verdaderamente? Y, a través de nuestro ministerio, ¿ayudamos a otros a ver?

En nuestra ordenación, y mediante nuestra unción, Cristo se ha entregado a si mismo en nuestras manos, confiando en nuestra condición, tan frágil y quebrantada. Cristo ha nos visto con Sus ojos y sabía lo que hacía al obrar de este modo. Al afrontar los desafíos de vivir nuestra vocación en estos tiempos de crispación, recordemos la confianza que Él ha depositado en nosotros y hallemos fortaleza en la decisión que Cristo ha tomado por nosotros, en aras de la salvación: la nuestra propia y la de Su pueblo, al cual servimos.

---

Our readings and the prayers for this Chrism Mass speak to the mystery of new sight and of being seen in this new vision in the light of Christ. This light of Christ is the presence of the Holy Spirit imparted to us in a particular way when we were ordained as priests. This presence was imparted sacramentally through our being anointed by Chrism and through the imposition of the bishop’s hands. Our ordinations took place entirely at the initiation of Jesus Christ who called us and gave us the grace to say “yes” to Him and to follow Him while belonging to Him in selfless service and love.

The accounts that you offer me as pastors speak of the zealous and increased number of people whom you will fully initiate in your celebrations of the Easter Vigil this Saturday night. Catholic social media also speaks of such increased numbers of those to be baptized and fully initiated into the life of the Catholic Church in other places. This is due in part to our own transparency in allowing Christ to shine through you in our ministry and in every part of our lives. This wonderful news should prompt us to reflect with gratitude and deeper reflection on the movement of the Holy Spirit through and among us especially at this celebration of the Chrism Mass where we renew our promises of ordination.

So many people have grown tired of the angry cynicism of this world that Christ has conquered through the love and truth of His Cross. They have grown weary of the polarization that has paralyzed their desires to live peacefully in their families and communities whether at work or at school. They have grown tired of making major decisions only on a transactional foundation in accord with fine print written on the terms of this fallen world.

These people are not seeking us as religious figures to offer them another transaction but only decorated with religious ornamentation. They are seeking Christ who has called us and made us His own. They are not seeking us for any power that we have received through ordination understood apart from Christ. They are seeking Christ who is present in us.

Through our hands at Mass, it is Christ who offers them the New and Eternal Covenant and not just another exchange of private interests by which we take possession of things. Through our preaching and teaching, it is Christ who offers them His eternal light and not ephemeral heat. Our renewal of our ordination promises commits us to the endeavor of letting Him be seen in us as He shows Himself to the people. Our renewal of the promises of ordination reminds us and reminds others that we belong to Him as His priests to conduct His mission and not our own. Through the anointing of the sick by our anointed hands, it is the wholeness of Christ whom they seek. When they call us for this anointing even if their request sounds to us to be demanding and excessive, we must go to them because it is Christ whom they are seeking and who is sending us that we might meet Him present in the sick and among their loved ones.

The late Pope Benedict XVI once offered, “At the center of the very ancient rite (of ordination) is the imposition of hands (of the bishop), with which Christ took possession of me, saying to me: ‘You belong to me.’ However, in saying this He also said: ‘You are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. You are kept safely in the palm of my hands, and this is precisely how you find yourself in the immensity of my love. Stay in my hands and give me yours.”

At our ordination and through our being anointed, Christ has delivered Himself into our hands with trust in our very fragile and broken condition. Christ knew what He was doing when He did that. As we face the challenges of living our vocations in these angry times, let us remember His trust in us, and may we draw confidence in the decision that Christ has made for us for the sake of salvation, ours and that of His people to whom we minister.