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Contents © 2006
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
May 2006

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GOOD SHEPHERD, MIRA MESA

Good Shepherd Church in Mira Mesa hosted the annual Chrism Mass, held this year on Thursday, April 6. Good Shepherd is the chosen location for this solemn rite each year for several reasons, including its central location, ample parking, and 1200-person seating capacity. With its nave floor sloping down to an altar surrounded on three sides by cushioned pews, this sanctuary appears to be an ideal Novus Ordo clerical theatre.

The entrance procession began with the priests of the diocese, vested in alb and stole, marching down the central access to their pews on the left of the altar. Then, led by pastoral center staff members in beige robes serving as crucifer and candle-bearers, Auxiliary Bishops Chavez and Cordileone went to the altar. As chief celebrant, Bishop Brom entered last, wearing the miter and bearing the shepherd's crook. After venerating the altar the bishop solemnly censed the sanctuary.

During the procession and censing, the Diocesan Chorale, supported by the organ, led us all in singing God has Spoken by the Prophets, a hymn with Trinitarian content and traditional ethos: "God has spoken by his prophets / Spoken his unchanging Word; / Each from age to age proclaiming / God, the one, the righteous Lord. / In the world's despair and turmoil, / One firm anchor holds us fast; / God is king, his throne eternal; / God the first, and God the last." Verses two and three of this hymn extolled divine revelation in the Son and Holy Spirit, respectively. I marveled at its strong doctrinal content, until I noticed that it had been penned in 1953 by one George Briggs.

After the sign of the cross and Bishop Brom's greeting, the cantor led a trope Kyrie; this was listed as an "Act of Penitence." However, the verses were ascriptions, and the response, Kyrie eleison, supplication. There was nothing distinctively penitential about it.

The Gloria from Michael Joncas' 1990 Mass for John Carroll was sung in responsorial manner; the cantor and chorale alternated on the verses, while the congregation joined in on the refrain, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Gloria, Gloria! Gloria in Excelsis Deo, et in terra, terra pax." It seemed significant that Joncas omitted the words "hominibus bonae voluntatis" -- "to men of good will."

Diocesan pastoral staff members having been appointed to serve as liturgical ministers, media director Bernadeane Carr rose to take the first reading, from Isaiah 61, in which the prophet announces, "The Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to give them the oil of gladness."

Flutes and strings then accompanied the cantor and chorale in rendering select verses of Psalm 89 with the refrain, "Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord." The instrumentation heightened the maudlin effect of Marty Haugen's setting.

Another woman rose to deliver the second reading, Revelation 1: 5-8, which declares, "He has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." She read slowly, enunciating each word carefully, but used an exaggerated style of declamation which called more attention to itself than to the text.

Organ, flutes, and strings combined for Haugen's setting of the Lenten Acclamation, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus, king of endless glory, Savior of the world." Meanwhile Bishop Brom gave his blessing to Deacon Domingo Enriquez, who proclaimed the Gospel: Saint Luke 4: 16-21, in which Jesus announces, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me," connecting with the prophecy of Isaiah.

Bishop Brom began his homily by noting, "There are moments in life when we have to conclude, 'That says it all!' Well, early on in the season of Lent I came to a prayer that for me led to the conclusion, 'That says it all:' 'Father in heaven, enable us to enter more deeply into the mystery of your Anointed One, that our lives may reveal his more effectively.' That says it all," he stated. "That says it all as to why we gather here today; priests and priestly people from the parishes and other faith communities." (I believe he meant other Catholic ministries). "That says it all as to why we celebrate the Easter sacraments. That says it all as to why we are followers of Christ and members of his body, the Church: to enable us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Anointed One, that our lives -- priests and priestly people alike -- may reveal his more effectively."

After pointing out that the Anointed One is Jesus and reiterating the Gospel for the day, he said the mystery of the Anointed One is none other than the love of God revealed in Jesus. We are to know it -- not just know about it -- and by our lives to make it known. He took as a paradigm of God's love this prayer: "Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Strengthen me, Lord, and I will be strong. Anoint me with your Spirit, Lord, and make me more like you."

He quoted Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), to emphasize that true love must be grounded in God's love; unselfish and self-sacrificing. He stressed that priests have been anointed to be signs and instruments of that love in a unique and permanent way; to personify the love of the Anointed One. This led into the priests making the renewal of their commitment to priestly service.

The oils to be consecrated as the oil of the catechumens; of the sick; and the holy chrism for confirmation were contained in large silver urns, which appointed ministers carried in procession to the altar. Meanwhile we sang an appropriate hymn: "Sunlight makes the olive fruitful / from the fruit the oil is pressed / Savior of the generations, now we bring it to be blessed / O Redeemer, hear our singing, as we praise you with one voice." After each blessing we sang the same Lenten acclamation as before the Gospel.

In consecrating the Eucharist, Bishop Brom used the Prayer III. He recited the preface in a spoken voice. It seemed to me that in a solemn rite such as this, the solemnity would have been greatly heightened by chanting the preface.

We chanted the Lord's Prayer a cappella to a simplified Gregorian mode one melody. In view of the bishop's known wishes in the matter, the people did not hold hands.

During communion we sang a piece by Bob Hurd from 1996, with a refrain taken from the Latin ritual for Holy Thursday: Ubi caritas est vera; Deus ibi est ("Where love is true, there God is"). Only priests served in the distribution of Holy Communion.

After communion, at Bishop Brom's prompting, the people gave the priests a two-minute standing ovation for their pastoral labors.

The oils having been distributed to lay delegates, the clergy recessed as all sang "Lord, you gave the great commission / "Heal the sick and preach the word" / Lest the Church neglect its mission / And the Gospel go unheard / Help us witness to your purpose / With renewed integrity; / With the Spirit's gifts empower us / For the work of ministry."

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