Ego makes it difficult to accept the faith

"Modern man is obsessed with his image. Our culture's  usual focus on the ego that makes it difficult to accept the faith", said the Old Catholic Archbishop Joris Vercammen on Wednesday evening in the cathedral Gertrudis church in Utrecht.


"Faith is a property of the interior. In this sense it is at odds with your ego and a worry for your image."Vercammen said in his sermon on the occasion of the consecration of oil, which annually takes place Wednesday in Holy Week.


God does not ask us to proceed by appearances. It is about faith: "God calls us. This is the beginning of all faiths. And who allows changes to take shape from the inside. Your attention is directed otherwise: away from one's own ego to be given to other people."


The sermon of the Old Catholic Bishop Dick Schoon reflects the words of Vercammen. Schoon held the Chrism Mass in Haarlem on April 18. He says that the followers of Jesus expelled them devils. Even now it is still relevant: "We do find that people are obsessed with certain images or ideas which they can handle and keep them off of an open future." He refers, inter alia, fashion images.


The consecrated oil plays an important role in the Catholic tradition: it serves with various sacraments: baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders. 


The Chrism Mass in Utrecht was attended by a large delegation of French Old Catholics. Given the small size of the old Catholic church in France they fall under the responsibility of Archbishop Vercammen.