Of Anniversaries, Thanksgiving and FulfillmentRead Time 9 min

“May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”

These are the words a bishop says to those he is about to ordain a deacon, priest or bishop just after they have answered “I do” to various questions and thereby make public promises.

In a few words, the ordaining bishop expresses not only his wish, hope and desire for those to be ordained but speaks on behalf of the Church. These sentiments are aided by the prayer of the entire Church, i.e., the Church militant, suffering and triumphant, joins in the Litany of Supplication (Litany of the Saints).

Priests recommit themselves to these promises every year at the Chrism Mass, which is celebrated on or around Holy Thursday, the day when the Church recalls the anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist, Holy Orders and Christ’s example of service in the washing of feet (Mandatum).

The Entrance Antiphon for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening helps us to put into context fulfillment, thanksgiving and anniversaries: “We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered.” (cf. Galatians 6:14)

Every Sunday, indeed, every Mass, is an anniversary of a type, which calls to mind how God’s promises have been fulfilled in Jesus. We have reason to celebrate as Christians because of the Paschal Mystery that is the central events of Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.

In our celebration of Mass, the center and high point of the entire celebration is the Eucharistic Prayer, which is a prayer of thanksgiving and sanctification. In the preface dialogue, the priest calls upon the people to lift up their hearts toward the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving. The priest associates the people with himself in the prayer that he addresses, in the name of the entire community, to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. A sense of thanksgiving is especially evident in the Preface in which the priest, in the name of the whole of the holy people, glorifies God the Father and gives thanks to him for the whole work of salvation or for some particular aspect of it, according to the varying day, festivity or time of year.

Like so many who mark significant days in their lives in festive ways, priests recall the anniversary of their ordination. Bishops also get the chance to mark the day they became bishops. All the faithful can use the anniversaries of our lives to praise and give thanks to God for the numerous ways we have been blessed and sanctified, i.e., filled with God’s very divine life through the sacramental life of the Church. Every anniversary can be an opportunity to recommit ourselves to our vocation. As we celebrate the anniversaries of others, we can praise and thank God for the good work he has done in them. Part of our work as Christians in spreading the Gospel is to see the good in others, help them recognize their dignity, lift them up and encourage them in the faith of Jesus Christ. Ponder the words of St. Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians:

“Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who are laboring among you and who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you, and to show esteem for them with special love on account of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good [both] for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (5:11-18)

During part of the Prayer of Ordination of Priests, the ordaining bishop implores God with the following words:

“Grant we pray, almighty Father, to these your servants the dignity of the priesthood; renew deep within them the Spirit of holiness; may they hold the office second in order, received from you, O God, and by the example of their manner of life may they inspire right conduct. May they be trustworthy co-workers with our Order [bishops], so that by their preaching and through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts and reach even to the ends of the earth.”

This section of the Prayer of Ordination of Priests helps all of us to realize what the gift of the priesthood is all about, namely, the preaching of the Gospel which brings about communion with God. This is why we can celebrate the anniversaries of priests with joy and excitement, even those of priests (and bishops) we do not know. These servants are a bridge (pontifex) between God and man aiding all of us, through God’s merciful plan of merciful love, in the sacramental life of the Church established by Christ himself.

As we make our way to another Sunday with a spirit of thanks, let us this use this weekly anniversary of our salvation through the Paschal Mystery to respond to God’s sanctifying grace and grow in communion with God and our neighbor as we plead with God with all our hearts to bring the good work he has done in each of us to fulfillment! Happy anniversary!