This day and this Mass, and what it recalls,
is about the priesthood of Jesus and the Holy Eucharist.
In case it’s not obvious, those go together.
You can’t have one without the other.
Without a priest, who will offer the Sacrifice of the Mass,
from which the Eucharist comes?
And without a Sacrifice to offer, we don’t need priests.
How do we know the Mass and the Eucharist are a sacrifice?
Because Jesus said so.
When he says, “Do this in memory of me” –
although that isn’t clear unless you look closely at the text –
that is the language of sacrifice.
And Jesus also chose this day: Passover. That was a sacrifice.
He began the Passover in the upper room the night before,
then through the rest of the night, until sundown on Friday,
the sacrifice is fully offered, and completed, on the Cross.
And that’s why the words, “Do this in memory of me” are so amazing;
because after all, what was there left – to do?
Jesus is the Lamb; he gave his life as a ransom for many;
He himself said from the Cross, “It is finished.”
What was there left to do?
And the answer is this: the Mass! The Eucharist!
He placed this sacrifice, our sharing of it, the Eucharist,
precisely in the middle of his whole project.
He didn’t take a Bible and say, “this is the center” –
as important as the Bible is to us.
He didn’t make baptism or the commandments,
or even serving the poor, or prayer or fasting, the center,
despite how important they clearly are.
No, the center is the Cross, and – listen – our sharing of it.
So when he said, “take and eat,” was that only for the 12 present?
When he said, “eat my flesh and drink my blood,”
that was only going to be true until the last apostle died?
No; he also said, I will be with you always – always! – until the end.
He put the Cross at the center – and told us to take up our own.
And so that it would include us, he put the Mass likewise at the center,
because that’s how we remember, and that’s how we “take and eat.”
That’s how we’re there. That, above all, is how he is with us always.
So the Mass and the Eucharist: that’s the central reality.
The priesthood exists as the way Jesus gives that to all.
It’s easy to see how the apostles themselves,
and every bishop and priest who might come after, could get a big ego.
Look how important we are!
So that’s why Jesus did this with the washing of feet.
If you want to lead, be a servant.
This is a particularly bitter Holy Thursday for us all.
Because the church is nearly empty. Very bitter.
Astonishingly, this is happening in nearly every place tonight.
It seems likely that this has never happened – never happened! –
since that very first time Jesus said, “do this in memory of me.”
That is a sign. Of what? I don’t know.
Someone smarter and holier than I will have to explain it.
But we can at least pause and take notice.
Is God giving us the biggest wake-up call in history?
Is this a call to repentance?
Is he trying to deepen our hunger and thirst for him?
Or something else entirely?
One thing I do know; this I am utterly certain of:
We continue to remember! The Holy Mass goes on!
The whole world is caught up in a mysterious moment,
a sign from heaven we don’t yet know how to decipher,
But God’s message is not, “I’m done” but rather, “I’m still here!”
And for those who hunger and thirst for him,
Jesus promised us, we will be satisfied!
I cannot express how limp and defeated I am by this.
I want to feed you! But I am overcome.
But Jesus is not overcome. Nothing could defeat him.
Even death could not constrain him.
It is painful to have to take part in this Mass by video;
But the proclamation of Jesus’ death and resurrection continues!
Jesus gives us courage to relive those events, so long ago,
that were bleaker and more frightening than anything we face now.
Keep courage, keep faith, Jesus is here!
Each year he takes us through the events
of his suffering and our salvation, from the Cross to an empty grave.
This year we are even more alert:
something mysterious is at work here.
Whatever it is, is for our salvation.
That is a thrilling thought.
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