HOLY THURSDAY: CHRISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER MASSES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 28, 2002 (VIS) - At 9:30 this morning, Holy Thursday, John Paul II presided in the Vatican Basilica at the Chrism Mass, during which priestly vows were renewed and the oils used for catechumens, to anoint the sick, and for confirmation were blessed.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, was the principal concelebrant at this morning's Mass. Pope John Paul delivered the homily.

Speaking of the ordained priesthood, the Pope affirmed that "if all those who are baptized participate in (the Redeemer's) royal and prophetic priesthood, ... priests are called to share His oblation in a special way. They are called to live it in service to the common priesthood of the faithful."

"While we give thanks for this mysterious gift," he stated, "we cannot but confess our infidelity. In the Letter that, as every year, I send to priests for (Holy Thursday) I recalled that 'all of us - aware of human weakness, but entrusting in the healing power of divine grace - are called to embrace the 'Mysterium Crucis' and to further commit ourselves to the search for holiness'."

Today, he concluded, "let us pray for all priests, in a special way for those working in difficult situations or who suffer persecution, and with a special thought for those who paid their fidelity to Christ with their blood. Let us pray for our brother priests who have failed in the commitments taken on with priestly ordination or who are going through a period of difficulties and crises. By choosing us for such a sublime mission, Christ will make sure we have the grace and joy to follow Him, up to Mount Tabor as well as on the Way of the Cross."

The Mass of the Lord's Supper was celebrated this year in St. Peter's Basilica, instead of the Pope's cathedral church of St. John Lateran. It began at 5:30 p.m and was presided over by Pope John Paul. Cardinal Angelo Sodano was the principal celebrant: concelebrants included Cardinals Roger Etchegaray and Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.

Cardinals Sodano and Etchegaray washed the feet of 12 priests during this evening's liturgy. At the presentation of the gifts, the Holy Father received an offering that will be sent to the poorest of the poor of native peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In his homily, John Paul II observed that "this evening we begin Christ's Passover, constituting the tragic and concluding moment, long prepared and awaited, of the earthly existence of the Word of God. Jesus came among us not to be served but to serve, and He took upon Himself the vicissitudes and hopes of the people of all time. Mystically anticipating the sacrifice of the Cross in the Upper Room it was His wish to stay with us under the appearances of bread and wine, and he entrusted to the Apostles and their successors the mission and power to perpetuate the loving and efficacious memory of that event in the Eucharist."

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