The Chrism Mass, celebrated during Holy Week, includes the blessing of the holy oil for catechumens and the holy oil for the sick, and the consecration of the sacred chrism used by clergy throughout the year.
It is also an opportunity for the priests of the archdiocese to reflect on and renew their priestly promises.
Chief celebrant Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP took time to thank the bishops, remember priests and religious who had died in the past year, and acknowledge those celebrating jubilees of ordination, as well as those ordained in the previous year, including Fr Tai Pham.
Fr Pham attended his first Chrism Mass as a priest, having been ordained in May 2025, and said the liturgy reminded him of God’s love in “participating in the priesthood of Christ.”
“It is a feeling of unworthiness and also belonging,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“I feel unworthy because priesthood is not something that should be achieved but is given.”
Fr Pham is assistant priest at St Felix de Valois parish in Bankstown and a part-time chaplain at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital. He will use oils blessed by the archbishop in his ministry across Western Sydney.
“It is beautiful to see the oils be blessed and consecrated,” he said.
In his homily, Archbishop Fisher reflected on the role of the Apostles and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
He said the Apostles had already been preaching, caring for the sick and casting out evil, but were entrusted in a new way with Christ’s mission through the gift of the Eucharist.
“It was at the Last Supper that Jesus gave them his Eucharist and instructed them to do as he did,” the archbishop said.
“The moment in which he transformed the bread and wine was also the moment he transformed them, as his words ‘Do this in memory of me’ reordered their lives.”
Fr Pham said the oils give him a “sense of identity” in his ministry and vocation as a priest and pastor.
“There is a sense of unity and also a sense of belonging. We all belong to one Church, one faith, and the symbolism of the oils reminds us of our ministry,” he said.
