Strength, Healing, Consecration: Reflection on the oils blessed at the Chrism Mass

The oils for use over the next year are blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass. The bishop blesses the oils used at Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, in the Anointing of the Sick. The oils signify strength, healing and consecration. Readings for the Chrism Mass.

Strength, Healing, Consecration

Modern culture is familiar with oil. Whether it is at the gas station filling up our car or making the engine run smoothly, or the ingredient in ointments that heal us from rashes, cuts and scrapes.

In a religious usage, oil goes back a long way. When Israel entered the promised land, one of the signs of abundance was the plentiful crop of olive trees. But olives took long to prepare for eating, so much of its use was for other things. Olive oil was valuable and was used to anoint kings, to light lamps, to sacrifice and to heal.

Oil was also in the Bible a sign of abundance and wealth. Being anointed set one aside to be king or as a priest. Oil was also used to designate objects and buildings for special purposes.

In the Catholic Church, oil signifies strength, healing and consecration. In baptism it is the Oil of Catechumens that is used to provide the strength that will be needed for the one who is baptized. Moreover the Sacred Chrism is also used in Baptism and again at Confirmation, so that the ones who are baptized are both strengthened to provide witness and anointed because they are set apart, or consecrated, for a special purpose.

The Oil of the Sick is obviously for healing. In so many things we use today for healing, oil forms a solid basis. But the Oil of the Sick is also about strength. Being sick, especially serious sickness, is not easy to face. It changes the way we see everything. Just as we use oil for physical healing, we also use it as a sign of the spiritual healing that only God can give.

The Sacred Chrism is different than the other types of oil. It is closely connected to consecration, which means to be set apart for a special purpose. At baptism, we use Sacred Chrism as a sign of consecration. We consecrate churches. We consecrate people at the baptisms, confirmations, and when they are ordained.

The Oil of the Catechumens and the Oil of the Sick are made from olive oil. The Sacred Chrism is also olive oil, but a perfume of balsam is added, signifying that this oil is set apart for consecration.

It is the oils that are blessed by the bishop that will be used by those coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday. And so it is appropriate, if possible, for those receiving the sacraments of initiation to see the Chrism Mass if possible.

But it is important for all of us if possible as well. The connection for each one of us to the oil used at our own baptism and the oil blessed each year by the bishop is a great reminder of the great blessing God has given us in the sacraments.

The Sacred Chrism we see should serve as a reminder that at our baptism and confirmation, we were set apart for a specific purpose. And if you are blessed to have people coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil, they serve as a reminder that each of the baptized, all of us, must hear the command of Jesus to go forth, teach and baptize.

And this responsibility arises from our baptism. For our baptism is connected to our salvation, and it is our baptism that obligates each one of us to share the Good News that Jesus came to bring.

The readings used at the Chrism Mass are powerful as well. Consider this section from the prophet Isaiah which we hear in the first reading.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
            because the LORD has anointed me;
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly,
            to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
            and release to the prisoners,
To announce a year of favor from the LORD
            and a day of vindication by our God,
            to comfort all who mourn;
To place on those who mourn in Zion
            a diadem instead of ashes,
To give them oil of gladness in place of mourning,
            a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit.

These are exactly the words used in setting people apart. These are the words that become so important that we should hear them as the task that God gives to us. In fact, it is this passage that Jesus reads in the synagogue when he says the passage is fulfilled, which we hear in today’s gospel.

Most importantly, this oil reminds us of the importance of the sacraments, those events of grace given to us by Jesus. At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper we will powerfully recall the gift that Jesus gives to us in the Eucharist.

Everything about this week reminds us that God is always pouring out his gracious love. Every sacrament is an encounter with Jesus. So share the oil of gladness that reminds us that it is in God we are strong, it is in God we are healed, and it is by God we are set apart.

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