BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Archbishop John F. Donoghue joined approximately 125 priests of the North Georgia archdiocese Tuesday of Holy Week to celebrate the special Chrism Mass.

During the March 25 Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King the oils used for the administration of the sacraments were blessed, and the priestly promises made at ordination were renewed.

Archdiocesan priests as well as members of religious orders who staff parishes and missions throughout the archdiocese, such as the Claretians, Redemptorists, LaSalettes, Marists and Conventual Franciscans all participated. Seminarians studying for the priesthood for the archdiocese were also in attendance.

A procession which began in front of the cathedral included the archbishop and the deans of the archdiocese, accompanied by Abbot Bernard Johnson, OCSO, Msgr. Edward Dillon, vicar general, and Father Mark Lacey, chancellor. Deacon Whitney Robichaux was the master of ceremonies.

During the homily the archbishop told the congregation of the relevance of the oil. "We use, just as our spiritual ancestors did, the symbol of oil, a rich and useful product, to realize for ourselves how the anointing with the Holy Spirit of God takes place, a thing invisible to our eyes," he said. "A little oil spreads a great distance and protects, heals and gives light to every surface it covers. This is what happened most perfectly when God anointed his son with the Holy Spirit."

The archbishop said that from this outpouring of God's love Jesus received an unerring sense of prophecy, the authority to challenge and change the raw elements of nature and most importantly, the ability to forgive sins.

"All these gifts, these abilities, these powers were allied to the most gentle and compassionate of human natures, one that refused to be enemies with anyone or anything other than Satan and sin," the archbishop said.

"And from this perfect anointing that Jesus bore, finally came the most awesome of all events, the suffering, the death and the rising of the Son of God and our salvation. These are the things wrought by God and his anointed one, the High Priest and king."

The archbishop then turned his attention to his priests and asked them to be united in their ministry and remember the need to forgive.

"I know that we are many different men, with many different opinions and styles of belief," he said. "We are honest enough to look at the men of our tradition and know that we are the same, no matter how modern we consider ourselves to be; we are not different from the apostles, who also differed in personality, who disagreed and quarreled on occasion, and who at worst, were actually spurned by one of their own members."

The archbishop reminded the priests of the words of Jesus: "If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

"And so the first thing we wish to pray for today, and to celebrate when it occurs, is our reconciliation with one another," the archbishop said. "A reconciliation brought about by Christ, who has called us, who has anointed us, who calls us at this time and in this place, to serve his church, his people, and to put the rest aside."

The archbishop said that if they truly believe the words of Jesus priests should make a sincere effort to put aside what separates and divides them and become servants of one another.

"It is the brotherhood we share because of Christ's call--the sameness of our vocation--that makes us one. It is his power reaching down to me through the apostles that gives us unity, not only with each other, but with the whole Church, in every place and at every time of history. It is his love which blasts to smithereens the small self-interests, the ego, the ?I,' the thing which sometimes invades the better side of our nature and pushes us apart from one another."

The archbishop then asked the priests to recognize the unity which is theirs as brother priests. "Today then, we meet not only to formally recognize the unity which is ours as brother priests, but also in these once-a-year moments, to pledge to one another a renewed awareness of how we can help one another, a new sensitivity to one another's troubles, one another's gifts, and, we must add, to one another's quirks."

"From the power of this unity, this anointing, this caring, which we renew today, it now becomes our responsibility for another year and for every year that remains to us, to carry to our people, the oil, the balm, the anointing God the Father has shown us in Jesus Christ."

Following the homily the priests stood and renewed their commitment to the priesthood and their bishop. The archbishop asked the priests to make a special promise to help one another. He then requested members of the congregation to join him in prayers of thanksgiving for their priests.

The procession of the oils followed as three large urns containing the oil of the catechumens, the oil of the sick and the chrism oil were brought to the altar by Deacons Alfred Mitchell, Patrick O'Connor and James Stewart.

The archbishop blessed the oil of the sick and the oil of the catechumens, and then prepared, blessed and consecrated the chrism. Chrism is used to anoint the newly baptized, seal candidates for confirmation and anoint the hands of priests at ordination. It is also used to anoint and dedicate new churches and altars. The oil of the catechumens is used to prepare them for baptism, while the oil of the sick is used in the sacrament of the anointing to bring comfort and healing.

During the concelebration of the Eucharist the priests filled the sanctuary to its capacity. After each priest received the body and blood of Christ, the archbishop and six priests distributed the Eucharist to the congregation which included many Religious, Catholic school students and lay people from throughout the archdiocese.

After the liturgy volunteers from the cathedral poured blessed oil and consecrated chrism into the vials brought by each parish and mission for use at the Easter Vigil when new members of Church are baptized and confirmed.

Following the Mass the archbishop hosted a luncheon at the cathedral for the priests of the archdiocese.