BISHOP URGES FAITHFUL TO INVITE GOD INTO THEIR DREAMS

Before more than 2,000 people and surrounded by the priests of the Diocese of Nashville, Bishop J. Mark Spalding, during his homily at the Chrism Mass, encouraged people to invite God into their dreams. He explained that he came across the line while doing some spiritual reading recently. “That line jumped off the page. I think that’s what we’re about as a Church.” “This night we keep in mind our priests,” Bishop Spalding said. “Each one of them in their vocational journey somehow asked God that, and when they awoke they accepted that will for them.”

Bishop Spalding celebrated the Chrism Mass in Sagrado Corazon at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Nashville on Wednesday, April 17. During the Chrism Mass, priests of the Diocese of Nashville renewed their ordination promises and Bishop Spalding blessed the holy oils that will used in parishes during year for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and anointing of the sick. Bishop Spalding greeted people after the Chrism Mass; about 2,000 people attended the Chrism Mass, which was held at Sagrado Corazon for the first time on April 17.

Bishop Spalding turned to address the priests who were seated on either said of the altar at Sagrado Corazon Church in the Catholic Pastoral Center where the Chrism Mass was celebrated on Wednesday, April 17. “Dear brothers, hear this, we’re so thankful for you,” he said. “Thank you for saying yes to God. Thank you for saying yes to God in starting this journey toward priesthood. Thank you for saying yes to God on your ordination day, thank you for saying it again tonight.” Bishop Spalding acknowledged the difficult times the Church is going through. “My one concern through all the troubles and trials of our Church is isolation,” he said. “The dark power, evil, the devil loves to separate you out, loves to get you alone and then whisper to you. And those whispers pull us away into a nightmarish way of living.”

“The way we get through tough moments in the Church is to remember to invite God into that moment,” Bishop Spalding said. “A God who loves and cares and forgives and is just … in ways we can only dream about.” Bishop Spalding also marveled at the diversity of ethnicities, cultures, languages, rites and styles of worship represented in the priests of the diocese and the faithful in the pews. “All those varieties they and we are God’s,” he said. “All that’s diverse in this building this night is wonderful.” “When we dream we fill up this place like we did tonight,” Bishop Spalding said. “We come here for Jesus. We come for him and how he works in and through us. … “Let the world see that the Roman Catholic Church present here in Middle Tennessee, in the Diocese of Nashville, is full of dreams, and God’s imagination is coming true in this world. That’s what we’re about,” he added. “When we do make that happen, everybody sees Christ in us, active in us. … “Invite God into your dreams,” Bishop Spalding said, “and see what happens when you awake.” Audio of the Bishop’s homily is available on the Diocese of Nashville’s facebook page.