Holy Thursday
April 13, 2017
We have entered into the sacred Triduum; the sacred three days. We are celebrating the central mysteries of our faith: the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Tonight we celebrate the Mass of the Last Supper. It was at the Last Supper that Jesus instituted the priesthood. He said the Apostles, “Do this in memory of me,” commissioning them as his priests.
One of the traditions here at St. Michael on Holy Thursday is that the little kids write cards to the priests for Holy Thursday. One of my favorite was from a second grader that said, “Fr. Brian gives long homilies!” And we just had kindness week at school! Maybe out of kindness this child was giving me fraternal correction!
Well it is at the Mass that the priest stands in the person of Jesus and repeats those words of the Lord at the Last Supper: Take and eat this is my Body. Take and drink this is my Blood. So, tonight we not only celebrate the institution of the priesthood, but also the miracle of the Eucharist. Tonight I want to focus on the miracle of the Eucharist.
Several years ago, I attended a conference put on by the Institute of Priestly Formation and Fr. Baer, rector of St. Thomas seminary, presented a talk in which he identified 5 stages of growth in our love and understanding of the Eucharist.
The first stage is what he called the “it” stage. He said many Catholics view the Eucharist as a sacred thing, a sacred object, as an “it.” People that view the Eucharist as an “it,” might be very pious and reverent toward the Eucharist. They might even be willing to die for “it.”
But a true moment of conversion is when we come to realize that the Eucharist isn’t a thing, an “it,” but a person - Jesus Christ. The 2nd stage of growth in our love and devotion for the Eucharist is the “Thou” stage. The Eucharist isn’t an “it,” but a “thou,” a person, Jesus Christ.
One blessing as a priest through the years is going to the Steubenville youth conferences during the summer. One of my favorite parts of the weekend is the bus trip home. I’m not being sarcastic. Normally, on the bus trip home we have the teens share a grace of the weekend. I’ll never forget years back when one of the high school students stood up and said, “For the first time, I’ve come to realize that the Eucharist is really Jesus Christ.” That young man moved to the “Thou” stage. What a moment of revelation when we realize the Eucharist is a person, Jesus Christ.
But there’s much more. We can acknowledge someone is a person, a “thou,” but that doesn’t mean we are in relationship with that person. I may know your name or acknowledge you, but that doesn’t mean we have a friendship or relationship. We are called not just to acknowledge Jesus’s presence, but to live our lives in Communion with Him – to be in relationship with him. This is the third stage: “I in thee, and thou in me.” “I in thee,” I’m called to live my life in Christ and “Thou in me,” and allow Jesus to live his life in me.
So often, we can go through life thinking my life is my own! I do what I want. It is a moment of deep conversion, when I realize: my life is not my own. I belong to Jesus. In fact the entire meaning and purpose of my life flow from my relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the source of my strength. Life takes on an entirely new meaning when I live it in communion with Jesus!
But we don’t stop there. Our faith is more than just a “me and Jesus,” thing. The next stage, stage 4 is “Thou in us.” When we come up for Holy Communion, not only are we entering into Communion with Jesus but we enter into Communion with each other. God always calls his people together to be brothers and sisters in faith.
Last week the Archbishop was here for Confirmation and used the analogy of basketball. He said if you’re by yourself you can practice dribbling or shooting, but if you want to play the game of basketball you have to part of team. The same in our faith – we are called to be part of a family, a team.
This is very counter cultural. We’ve all heard people say, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” This is code for, “I have a relationship with God, but don’t want to have anything to do with his Church.” The bible says, “we though many are called to be one body in Christ.”
The bible also says Jesus is the head and we are his body. If we love a person, it would make no sense to say, “You know what? I love your head, but hate your body!” We are called to love the whole person! In fact we cannot truly love God if we despise our neighbor. God always calls his people together, to be church, to be a family, thou in us.
Finally, the 5th stage: This is when we come to realize that our whole mission flows from the Eucharist. The 5th stage is “Thou through us for them.” We are to go forth to be Christ’s presence in the world.
Think about this: when I eat something it becomes a part of me. When I eat a hamburger it becomes part of Fr. Brian. But, here’s the amazing thing that happens when we receive Holy Communion: we become what we receive. We become the Body of Christ. And then we are sent forth to do what? -To wash the feet of our brothers and sisters. We are called to go forth to be the Body of Christ in the world, to lay down our lives in service to others, to be Eucharist for the world, to be willing to break our bodies and shed our blood in love for others.
At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and he said, “As I have done for you now you must do for one another.” Our whole mission flows from the Eucharist: Thou in us for them. We go forth to wash the feet of our brothers and sisters.