Holy Thursday. Evening Mass of
the Lord’s Supper
First Reading
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel
John 13:1-15
THEME: DO YOU REALIZE WHAT I HAVE
DONE FOR YOU?
There are three significant
celebrations this night. Today Christ the Lord instituted two sacraments and
the act of love or charity that gives them beauty. He instituted the sacrament
of the Holy Orders and the sacrament of the Eucharist, then lastly, he
commanded us to love. To show love to one another.
These three signs today are
mysterious in nature and mystery is something beyond human understanding. We
use faith to believe in mysteries. From the three reading, we can see the
manifestations of these three gifts to us. Continue Reading...........................
The first reading is telling us
about the preparation and the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt and
the command to maintain the celebration. They also did not understand the
significant of the preparation and the departure till it happed and they were
explained to them.
The second reading just as the
first, St. Paul is telling us what exactly happened on this day two thousand
years ago and lastly, the command “do this in memory of me”. With the mystery
of faith we do proclaim in every mass, “For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes”. This is a
serious induction that we should continue to celebrate the mystery.
In the gospel, after all that he
did at the last supper and the washing of feet, he asked them, “Do you realize
what I have done for you?” This same question is asked us today. Do we realize
what God has done to us? Do we realize what took place this day two thousand
years ago? With faith, we can attempt it but aside faith no. let me take the
three gifts separately.
The Holy Orders: This sacrament of Holy Order is almost the highest
gift God has given to humanity. In Holy Orders we see God living among men
through the ontological configuration of the candidate during the ordination by
laying of hands of a validly ordained Bishop. Jesus is asking us today, do we
realize what God has done for us in the sacrament of the Holy Orders? The
answer remains “yes” through faith and “no” through reason. Some of us think
that priesthood is built on men thrown down from heaven and that has made them
to see some priests as that they are not worthy to be one. Far from that, God
who calls knows the reason for the calling. We use reason to follow mysteries
which will never give us the true answer. For us to realize what the Lord has
done to us, we should have faith in him and believe in what he has done. He has
given us priests to care for our souls. We should not look at the personal lives
of priests (though they should be models), we should look unto God who called
them for our sake. They are priests for us. We should not forget to pray for
them for the task is not an easy one.
The Eucharist: This is the highest gift God gave to the church and
the world. Eucharist is the source and summit of the church. The highest
sacrifice one can make is the sacrifice self and that is what Jesus has done
for us today. He has given us himself for the nourishment of our souls. He did
not want to leave us as orphans rather he left us the gift of life (John 14:18).
We should approach this gift with the maximum respect and preparation it needs
and salvation will be ours.
Love: These sacraments and other sacraments are the manifestation
of God’s love for us and that is what he expects us to extend to others. To
give us a little example on the type of love he is expecting from us, he washed
the feet of supposed servants. This is to show us that every position we attain
is a position of service. We must render service in love for the sake of Christ
and our life of grace, love and charity will grow and it is only that time that
we will realize what God has done for us today. We should not forget the
command, “do this in memory of me”. THANKS AND HAPPY HOLY THURSDAY.
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