As we gather on this Holy Thursday,
our central theme is love. We celebrate God’s infinite love for us
perfectly revealed in His Son Jesus Christ, who on the night before He died and
because of His love for us, gave us three precious gifts: the Holy
Eucharist, the Priesthood, and an example/model to follow.
We celebrate tonight the Institution
of the Eucharist. As our Catechism states: “In the Most Blessed
Sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood, together with the soul and
divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly,
really and substantially contained” (1374). We know that the Lord gives us
this precious gift not because we are perfect or without sin; not because we
merit or deserve it; but because we are loved. Pray that in our lives and
throughout our diocese, the Eucharist is always firmly believed, devoutly
celebrated and intensely lived.
Tonight, we also celebrate the
Institution of the Priesthood, through which the gift of the Holy Eucharist is
perpetuated. At the Chrism Mass this morning, the Church invited my brother
priests to renew their Ordination promises. The Liturgy also calls for the
bishop to ask the People of God to pray for their priests. I renew that request
this evening. Please pray, dear friends, for the wonderful priests serving in
our diocese. In addition to them being men of holiness and integrity, pray that
they will be known especially for the way they love in imitation of Jesus: in
other words: sacrificially and unceasingly.
Within this Mass, we also
commemorate the example of Jesus, the One who teaches us how to love. The
Gospel of John proclaimed this evening is unique in that it does not include
the familiar words of the Institution of the Eucharist. Instead, the evangelist
highlights the reality that, even though he knew He was Lord of all, Jesus took
off His cloak and bowed in humble service and, thus, gave us an example to
follow. Out of love, we are to wash the feet of one another. We do so when we
put the needs of others before our own. We do so when seek not to ascend, but
to descend in service of others, especially the poor, the sick, the
brokenhearted, the lonely and all those calling out for our help. We do so when
we forgive, from our hearts, all those who have hurt or offended us.
On this sacred and solemn evening, we celebrate God’s
infinite love for us perfectly revealed in His Son Jesus, the One whose Body
and Blood we receive, the One who washed the feet of His disciples and said to
us: “What I have just done for you was to give you a model to follow, so
that as I have done for you, you should also do.” May our love for God and
one another be reflected in our faithfulness to that call at this sacred time
and all the days of our lives. Amen.
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