Here's a report on Pope Francis's chrism mass, with video.
(I seriously can't get enough of this guy. My apologies; recipeblogging, parentblogging, and kid pictures will return shortly.)
I haven't watched the full video yet or made a transcript, but even in the two excerpts on the listed site I found something I wanted to share. Recall that this is the Chrism Mass, where the oils for anointing are blessed and distributed to parishes.
First quote:
“The Lord will say this clearly: his anointing is meant for the poor, prisoners and the sick, for those who are sorrowing and alone. The ointment is not intended just to make us fragrant, much less to be kept in a jar, for then it would become rancid … and the heart bitter. ”
A priest who seldom goes out of himself, who anoints little – I won’t say “not at all” because, thank God, our people take our oil from us anyway – misses out on the best of our people, on what can stir the depths of his priestly heart. Those who do not go out of themselves, instead of being mediators, gradually become intermediaries, managers. We know the difference: the intermediary, the manager, “has already received his reward”, and since he doesn’t put his own skin and his own heart on the line, he never hears a warm, heartfelt word of thanks. This is precisely the reason why some priests grow dissatisfied, lose heart and become in some sense collectors of antiques or novelties – instead of being shepherds living with “the smell of the sheep”, shepherds in the midst of their flock, fishers of men.
I'm the one who bolded the brilliant phrase "become in some sense collectors of antiques or novelties"
"Antique" collectors. "Novelty" collectors. He is pointing to anyone who fails to bring the good news and the acts of mercy out of themselves: whether they be labeled traditionalists (collectors of antiques) or whether they be labeled progressives (collectors of novelties).
They're both liable to gather dust.
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