Homily Chrism Mass in English

Here you find the homily of the Chrism Mass in English

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON YOU

CHRISM MASS, 1 APRIL 2026

The Spirit is upon you

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”,
these words of Jesus,
which come from the prophet Isaiah,
and which we heard in the first rea­ding,
apply to us all:
through our baptism
we have become brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ
we have received a share
in that same Spirit of the Lord
and through Confirmation
we have been sent forth
to bring the Good News,
first through our actions, through who we are and what we do,
and then also through our words.

Catechu­mens

And yes, in a certain sense this already applies
to those prepa­ring for Baptism,
the catechu­mens,
whom I extend a particularly warm welcome today.
Moved by the Holy Spirit
you have come to the Church
and have prepared yourselves for the sacra­ments.
I wish you all today
a won­derful day of your Baptism and Confirmation.
That day is not an end,
but a begin­ning
of a journey with Jesus Christ
in the community of the Church;
a journey which - as with all of us -
will lead over peaks and through valleys,
past lush meadows and arid deserts.
Hold fast to Jesus Christ,
let yourselves be guided by His Spirit
and place your trust in His mother,
the Virgin Mary.

Today the oils are consecrated
with which the catechu­mens are anointed
and the sick are assisted,
the chrism is consecrated
with which the sacra­ment of Confirmation is administered
and the hands of the new priests
are anointed, so that they may bestow bles­sings,
nothing but bles­sings.
At Easter, in our diocese,
some 160 catechu­mens
will receive the sacra­ments.
Many others will receive them
at other times.

May it be granted to us all
to grow as Christians
with the support of the sacra­ments
and to be witnesses and apostles of Jesus Christ.

Inspi­ring people

Of course, we could point to all sorts of people
who have not exactly lived as Christians,
but fortuna­tely many people have also gone before us,
who have done so
and still inspire us today.

Every day the Catholic Church commemorates
many saints and blessed,
and that is the case today as well.
Today is the memorial day
of Ramón, aged 22,
who was nea­ring the end of his medical studies.
Ramón Vargas Gonzalez helped
the poor with their medical problems free of charge,
whilst studying to become a doctor.
He lived in Guadalajara, Mexico,
a country where persecution
of Catholics and the Church was taking place at the time.
At one point, his family
gave shelter to a Catholic lawyer
who was being persecuted by that regime for his faith.
This was discovered.
On Friday 1 April 1927, Ramón and his brothers
were therefore arrested
to be shot by the military.
One of Ramón’s brothers lamented
that he had not been able to go to confession
and it was, after all, the first Friday of the month,
but a fellow prisoner said:
“Now is the time to ask for forgiveness and to forgive;
no judge will be wai­ting for you,
but a Father”.
And Ramón said:
“Do not be afraid; when we die,
our blood will wash away our sins”.
The brothers remained cheerful and warm-hearted.
Then the general of the military division suggested
that the youngest of the three
be allowed to go free.
That was Ramón.
But Ramón gave up his place
to his older brother, who thus survived all this.
Before Ramón was shot
he made the sign of the cross
visible to everyone,
the sign of suffe­ring and of redemption
and of his trust in God.

Spiritual battle

Be like Ramón!
It is a spiritual battle,
which we must all fight,
to do good and to be good.
You may not be perfect,
but you want to fight
and that is what matters.
May the good Lord grant us all
that we may be apostles of Jesus Christ.

Day of the priests

This is also the day of the priests,
who are to renew the vows of their ordination,
for tomorrow we celebrate
the institution of the priesthood and the Holy Eucha­rist.
Dear priests, I wish to thank you
for having given your lives
for Jesus Christ and His Church.
This is particularly evi­dent in celibacy.
You have given up to God
what is very important to people:
a relationship, a family.
But that does not mean
that you do not wish to be connected to people.
A priest is taken from the people
and appointed for the people
and he too needs the support
of the community,
of his brothers and sisters in faith.
Support your priests!

And dear priests,
I am grateful to you
for your priestly example
and for your dedication,
for the support you give to so many people,
and I would particularly like to mention the spiritual guidance
you provide to young people
and the guidance you offer to all the newly baptised.

Deacons and other pas­to­ral agents

I also thank the deacons,
who share in the sacra­ment of Holy Orders,
I thank the pas­to­ral workers, cate­chists,
the catechetical assistants,
and spiritual counsellors
and everyone, inclu­ding all the volun­teers,
who dedicate themselves to the Church and to the Gospel!
Thank you for your faith, for your life
rooted in the Gospel,
that you wish to be “Church together”
built upon Jesus Christ.

Our World

The world is in chaos,
there are ever more places of war and violence,
ever more people
who hun­ger and thirst
for food, for peace and justice.
But the apocalypse is not a battle
that we unleash,
these are not wars “in the name of God”!
What can we do?
When Jesus stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth,
unrolled the scroll of Isaiah
He read aloud about His mission for prisoners,
for the blind and the oppressed.
He came to set us free
from the bon­dage of death and sin
and those words were at the same time a sign
that He stands alongside the poor and the suffe­ring.
That is also what we can do.
May we pass on the love and peace of Jesus Christ
to one another,
may we, with Him, learn to endure and to unite,
to be one in the One,
then we will sow seeds of His Peace.
Amen