Holy Thursday: 2015
Introduction: On Holy Thursday we celebrate three
anniversaries: 1) the anniversary of
the first Holy Mass, 2) the anniversary of the institution of ministerial
priesthood in order to perpetuate the Holy Mass, convey God’s forgiveness to
repentant sinners and preach the Good News of Salvation, 3) the anniversary of
Jesus’ promulgation of His new commandment of love:
“Love one another as I have loved you”
through feet washing.
Today we remember how Jesus transformed the Jewish Passover into
the New Testament Passover. The Jewish Passover was, in fact, a joint
celebration of two ancient thanksgiving celebrations. The descendants of
Abel, who were shepherds, used to lead their sheep from the winter pastures to
the summer pastures after the sacrificial offering of a lamb to God.
They called this celebration the “Pass over." On
the other hand, the descendants of Cain, who were farmers,
held a harvest festival called the Massoth
in which they offered unleavened bread to God as an act of thanksgiving.
The Passover feast of the Israelites (Exodus 12:26-37)
was a harmonious combination of these two ancient feasts of thanksgiving,
commanded by the Lord God to be celebrated yearly by all Israelites to thank God for the miraculous liberation of their ancestors
from Egypt and their exodus from slavery to the Promised Land.
Taking
the bread and vine Jesus said “This is my body. This is my blood. Do this in
memory of me” Jesus know that tomorrow he will die. The disciples are asked to
do this in future “in remembrance of Jesus”. This commissioning is what we call
institution of priesthood. To do this for ever to remember him, Jesus replaced
his physical body and blood with bread and wine, by saying “this is my body,
this is my blood.” We, Catholics hold that the bread and wine the priest
consecrated is the real body and blood of Jesus.
Joke: There were
these two boys who lived with their Grandma. They were about to go to bed but
before they slept they prayed. The older son started to pray. He prayed about
the day he had and about everything he had done. The younger son then started
to pray, he prayed much louder than his elder brother, he prayed for bikes and
toys, and when he finished the older brother asked him "Why are you
praying so loud? God is not deaf" and the younger son responded and said
" Yea but Grandma is"
Practical Applications: 1) Our
celebration of the Eucharist requires that we wash one another’s feet, i.e.,
serve one another, and revere Christ's presence in other persons. In practical
terms, that means we are to consider their needs to be as important as our own
and to serve their needs, without expecting any reward. 2) Visiting the
Blessed Sacrament, first Friday devotion like making confession, communion and
participating in adoration are to nourish our spiritual life. 3) Let us start our devotion to Blessed
Sacrament with participation in today’s adoration.
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