Dear brothers in priesthood,
Today is the day of thanksgiving. I am sure that every one of us is looking back on the beauty of his priesthood. The years of service to the Church, years of hope and blessing, brought to so many people. We are invited to thank the Lord for the immense, immeasurable gift we have received: “Being priest.” Therefore, we are called to sing with the psalm: “What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.” (Psalm 115).
Gratitude in the Name of the Church
How will I render thanks to the Lord this evening? Our thanksgiving for priesthood comes from deep awareness that the priesthood is the gift of infinite love of God, who has chosen us. It is he who has appointed us. It is he who has sent us.
In my name, in the name of the Church, in the name of all the faithful whom you serve as priests, I thank you with all my heart for your given life, and for your priestly service, by which you build up the body of Christ that is: The Church. I greet Fr. James, who is among us and wishes to celebrate together with us the gift of his priesthood in the Anglican Church.
The Eucharist: The Heart of the Priesthood
Consecration, and Anamnesis are at the center of the Eucharist celebration in which we celebrate the supreme act of human redemption: the death and resurrection of Christ. The act in which human words and our action are united with the divine word and action of Christ. … By the power of the Holy Spirit the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.
Acting In Persona Christi
Our action is accomplished “in persona Christi.” By celebrating the Eucharist, we are clothed with Christ, we are his instrument. Participating in his priesthood. To be fully aware of this we need the inner silence of humility and contemplation. One cannot live the priestly life without continuous prayer, without an inner life with Christ.
The Identity of the Priest in the Eucharist
In the celebration of the Eucharist we prepare gifts, and these gifts become in our hands the Body of Christ. He himself says, “This is my body,” as he said at the Last Supper. We are invited by this act of the consecration of bread and wine to realize, that our priestly identity, expresses itself in being similar to Christ who gives himself eternally, as he gave himself on the cross. In the Eucharist Christ gives himself to us as bread, is broken, divided and becomes food that we receive.
The Eucharist Questions the Priest
It is impossible to separate our lives from our priestly service; the Eucharist we celebrate questions us deeply: are you aware of what you are doing? Are you aware of what priesthood means? Are you aware of God’s ineffable gift?
The Priesthood as Service
Christ in his passion takes the place of the slave, and manifests it through the washing of feet during the last supper; making himself servant of all. Every free service in his name, service without interest and every act of true love will forever make his presence alive. In this sense our priesthood is: to be servants of his mysteries, to be in the service of salvation, to be laborers in his vineyard.
Nourished by the Bread of Life
Celebrating the mass, in communion we consume the Eucharistic bread. We unite ourselves with the living, risen Christ as the disciples of Emmaus. We consume him as the bread of life.
As the body needs food to subsist, so our soul needs to be nourished with Christ. The moment we consume the host and drink of the chalice, the spiritual drink, our activity ceases, our activity turns to passivity. In faith we surrender ourselves to him, asking him: “Never let me be parted from you.” …
“Let Me Consume You” – The Hunger of Christ
Great mystic of the modern era, Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, speaks of the hunger of Christ, who needs to be nourished. The moment of communion thus also becomes Christ’s invitation, “let me consume you.” When we receive Christ in communion we receive also his invitation, to become bread for Him, to let ourselves be consumed by Him, by the fire of his love.
In his prayer entitled “Communion,” Teilhard de Chardin uses these words: “To satiate your hunger and thirst, to nourish your body to its full development, you need to find among us a substance that you can consume.…. Christ is searching in us for this food, ready to be transformed into HIM. ….” He means the mystical body of Christ.
A Priesthood Lived in Fullness
As priests we are called to let ourselves — be consumed by him. To become Him. To become the signs of his presence. Despite our frailty, are we ready to live the fullness of our priesthood, fullness of the gift we have received? Abandoning ourselves to him, giving to God our life, entirely, with a free heart, with a free soul? Are we ready to give to the Lord our abilities, our talents? The priestly life cannot be lived half-heartedly, because it will make us unhappy, incapable and frustrated.
Renewing the Prophetic Vocation
Today’s feast invites us to renew our awareness of the priestly and prophetic vocation that we have received, calling to mind the words of Prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
The Eucharist as a Source of Hope
Through the Eucharist, Christ is nourishing us with hope in our weaknesses. Christ is infinitely patient with us. “Above all, let us trust in the slow work of God in our lives.” (T. de Chardin).
Instruments of Hope Today
And then, let us be the instruments of hope. For all who need light in their lives, for all who need support, consolation and words of healing.
I invite each one of us, to surrender ourselves to the Spirit we have received. As Jesus did. May the Scripture come to be fulfilled in us, as it was fulfilled in Jesus, in the Synagogue. Today. Not tomorrow. Not in the future. Today. Let every moment of our lives be Today. With sincere commitment in service to the Gospel, for the proclamation of the good news, that the poor may taste the joy of the Kingdom. Amen.
+ Martin Kmetec o.f.m. conv.
Archbishop of Izmir
Homily at Chrism Mass, April 16 2025