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The diocesan Chrism Mass was celebrated by Bishop Gerard Bradley, Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, at Arundel Cathedral on Wednesday 1 April. The Mass offered people across our diocese with an opportunity to celebrate the gift of the ministerial priesthood and the life of grace that flows through the Sacraments of the Church, with the Oil of the Sick and the Oil of Catechumen blessed, and the Oil of Chrism consecrated. Speaking during the homily, Bishop Gerard said:

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"It is a real delight to be with you this evening... I spent 17 and a half years of my priestly life in this diocese - half of my priestly life - and it's wonderful to be able to see familiar faces and friends... You know, I was thinking that in some ways having your bishop taken away from you [+Richard was appointed as Archbishop of Westminster on 19 December 2025] is like a period of fasting. 'When they take the bridegroom away, then they will fast', says our Lord.

"But remember this, fasting is not about starving, it's about waiting... and therefore, one of the things we're doing at the moment is praying for the gift of patience... and being nourished by the gift of a new bishop when he arrives so, pray for patience, pray for a deeper trust that God will provide for you.

"There is something really quite important going on when we pray deeply for this significant gift. You will be fed. You know that you will eventually get a bishop. So what are we doing when we pray for one? That's what I really want to ask...

"You will receive an apostle whose job is to call you to holiness. Are you ready for that? Do you want to be drawn to holiness? That's got to be part of your prayer. An apostle is given to us to call us to a deeper conversion and repentance, or else he's not preaching the Gospel, but do we really want to repent? How deep do we really want to go, how much do we want to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ?

"Lord, give me the gift to cast out into the deep for you, and enlarge my faith.

"You are praying for an apostle whose duty is to call you to serve in every form of poverty there is - whether that is to educate people, to give them good catechesis, to be with them in their loneliness or their bereavement, or in their dying - to be at their bedsides when they are passing from this world to the next; all sorts of poverty which Christian service generously gives itself to. And when we get to that point where we say, 'No more, Lord', and He says, 'Get back on the other side of the Cross', our apostle is calling us to that compassion of heart, which is in the heart of Jesus.

"An apostle will call you to be an evangelist for this age, not the age that was, and not an age we can't imagine, but the age in which we are now, which is why we need to keep our eyes open for Jesus Christ in the midst of us...

"So, we pray to have our eyes open, for the fortitude to face the things that He will ask us to do in our families, our schools, and our neighbourhoods in order to evangelise and bring people to the goodness of the Father's heart, and His saving work. [We pray] that all centres on worship and prayer; prayer which is the deepening of a relationship with the Lord, and worship which has got to be beautiful, because the heart of God the Father is beautiful.

"Fix your eyes on Him and all will be well. Praise be Jesus Christ. Amen."

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The Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumen and the Oil of Chrism have now been distributed to parishes throughout the diocese for use in the sacraments during the coming year: the Oil of the Sick to bring healing and comfort to those who are ill; the Oil of Catechumens to strengthen catechumens preparing for Baptism and the sacred Chrism, used in Baptism and Confirmation, ordinations of priests and bishops, and the dedication of churches and altars.

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