The renewal of baptismal promises is part of the celebration of Easter. And Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz has asked Catholics in the Archdiocese of Louisville to recall their baptism and what it means in their Christian life.

“I invite you to consider your own baptism,” the archbishop told people attending the Chrism Mass last week at the Cathedral of the Assumption. “Each one of you has been called or is being called to be a faithful child of God and to live as a faithful witness in the world.”

He told people that when they renew their baptismal promises at Easter “that will be your time ... to trust in the Lord Jesus and to allow the Lord to give you this year a new springtime, a new Pentecost.”

Archbishop Kurtz presided at the March 18 Chrism Mass in which sacramental oils — including the sacred chrism used for baptism, confirmation, ordination of priests and dedication of churches — were blessed. Also, priests attending renewed their commitment to service.

In his homily, Archbishop Kurtz noted that Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, has referred to Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 visit to the United States as being a “new springtime, a new Pentecost.”

“Isn’t it true that the coming of the Holy Spirit ... each day is a new springtime,” the archbishop said. “Tonight, as one church in our archdiocese, we can celebrate and beseech the Lord to give to us the gift — as a diocese and in our individual lives — the gift of a new springtime, the gift of renewal within our lives and within the church.”

Archbishop Kurtz said there are many opportunities for renewal in the archdiocese.

He mentioned his visits to 49 parishes for Masses since he was installed as Archbishop of Louisville last August. “Think of the richness of our archdiocese,” he said. “What a wonderful opportunity for each of us to return to our parishes with that spirit of renewal.”

The archbishop noted the six men who joined the seminary program and are preparing for the priesthood in the archdiocese. “It’s a new springtime, a new opportunity for the spirit of the Lord to be upon us.”

He recalled the formation of the archdiocese in Bardstown two centuries ago on April 8, 1808. “Think of the many blessings and gifts that have occurred to individual people and the church at large over these blessed 200 years,” he said.

And Archbishop Kurtz mentioned that every day when he leaves his residence at the Cathedral he looks to the corner of Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, where 50 years ago the late Trappist monk Thomas Merton had an epiphany and wrote, “I was suddenly overwhelmed that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs.”

“To me, it (Merton’s epiphany) is symbolic of the movements of the Holy Spirit that come upon each one of us in our daily lives,” the archbishop said.

“This is the new springtime — that the grace of Jesus Christ remains alive in each of our hearts and in our church,” he added.

Archbishop Kurtz also led priests of the archdiocese in a renewal of their commitment to service made at their ordination to the priesthood. Before this renewal, he offered in his homily some thoughts for their reflection.

He noted the priests who will be celebrating anniversaries of their ordination this year. These anniversaries are reasons for celebration, he said, “with and for our brother priests.”

He told the priests: “The title of priest is not a title of honor; it is a title of humble and zealous service.”

The archbishop also mentioned Pope Benedict’s words about the importance of unity among priests and the bishop.

“The capacity for us to give a hand to one another, because of the grace of Jesus Christ, is when all is said and done the surest sign of unity,” he said. “When we pray that the Lord fills us with gratitude, we will reach out to help our brother priests make their lives easier and increase that unity” among priests.

“Our unity with one another will not come because we try harder; it will come because the grace of Christ is alive within us,” he added.

Archbishop Kurtz asked: Why is it important that the bishop and priests be united with one another? “It is important because of our service to the world,” he said.