Never grow tired of doing good | Chrism Mass 2022
Kulai – This year the multilingual Chrism mass for The Malacca Johore Diocese was held in the Church of Christ the King, Kulai which was officiated by Bishop Bernard Paul on the 12th of April, 2022. Chrism mass is usually celebrated on Tuesday of Holy Week to bless the Holy Oils for the coming year as well as the renewal of priestly promises. The Holy Oils blessed are the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens and the Oil of Chrism.
During the Homily, Bishop Bernard Paul reminded the priests to be brave to make a stand with the following characteristics; resistance, defiance, principles and self-belief so that they will be heard amidst the chaos around us. He also gave the example of Mahatma Gandhi whereby he states that they can destroy his body but not his obedience. These characteristics are important because the church must take a firm stand for the sake of the poor, the earth our home, to be able to identify and love what God loves as well as to report any injustices regardless of status and power.
He went on further to quote the Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), a document on Vatican reforms which was released by Pope Francis on the 19th of March, 2022. This document provides further reminders for those in offices in our churches to always glorify God, be open to people’s needs and welcome everyone regardless of the status quo. Bishop ended his homily with the quote from Pope Francis on Lent, “Never grow tired of doing good” (Gal. 6:9).
The mass celebration continued with the renewal of priestly promises after the homily followed by the blessing of the oils by Bishop. These oils are then distributed to all the priests for the usage at individual churches in the diocese. The mass ended with a slide show of photographs of priests at different events throughout the diocese.
