INSTITUTION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST/CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD AND LESSONS FROM THE LORD'S SUPPER (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE HOLY WEEK 6TH APRIL 2023 (MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER)

Homily for Thursday of the Holy Week (Mass of the Lord's Supper) 

Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15.

Our celebration tonight has to do with great memorials. This morning, in the Cathedral, the Bishop, together with his priests, and the people of God celebrated the Mass of the institution of the Catholic priesthood known as Chrism Mass. In addition to the Bishop's consecration of the three oils, all the priests renewed their commitment to their Bishops all over the world. Each of us renewed the same promise we made at our priestly ordination.

This evening's liturgy is the Mass of the Lord's Supper. It is the feast of the remembrance of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus perpetuates his presence in the Church. He offers himself in the most wonderful way. The Eucharist has a long history. God prepared the people of Israel long ago for this sacrament of his body and blood. Before this time, two feasts originally existed in Palestine. These were the feasts of Passover and Unleavened bread. The feast of Passover was a feast of the nomadic shepherds' tribes who offered a young animal to beg the deity for an increase in their flock as well as for the well-being of their flock. The feast of unleavened bread was a feast of more sedentary agricultural groups who offered grains at the beginning of the barley harvest. This feast came at the octave of Passover, that is, on the evening of Passover feast. They use the combined feast to commemorate the great event of Exodus as narrated in the first reading of this Mass. "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall observe it as an ordinance forever" (Exo.12:14). In commemorating these feasts, the event was also re-evoked and re-lived by the celebrants. This is called memorial, that is, bringing what happened in the past to the present.

Jesus instituted the Eucharist precisely in the context of these paschal feasts of Israel. Until now, God's covenant with his people has been represented by the paschal lamb being sacrificed on the altar of holocaust, which was customarily eaten in silence. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus did something unusual. He broke the silence and said, "This is my body" in place of the lamb. Now, the lamb being offered up is Christ himself, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. He did the same with the cup and said, "Take and drink, this is my blood."

From now on, just as the sacrifice of the lamb in Egypt saved the Jews from the angel of destruction, so this sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, would save the new people of God, the Church. As the Jews partook of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus gave his body and blood in communion to the Apostles as a sacred sign of their sharing in his resurrection. This was how the Holy Mass was born. Christ celebrated the first Holy Mass on the first maundy Thursday about two thousand years ago.

We commemorate today, as well as the institution of the Catholic priesthood. St. Paul tells us in the second reading: "I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in rememberance of me" (1 Cor.11:23-24). By the words, "Do this in rememberance of me," Jesus instituted the Catholic priesthood. Each Catholic priest is commissioned by Jesus to make present on the altar the Holy Eucharist. "The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice (cf.1 Cor.11:25). Jesus includes the Apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it (cf.Luke 22:19). By doing so, the Lord institutes his Apostles as priests of the New Covenant: 'For their sake  I sanctify myself so that they also may be sanctified in truth' (John 17:19)" (CCC 611). Without the priest, no Eucharist. No Eucharist, no priesthood. The priest is only a priest because he offers the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Hence, priests should endeavour to celebrate Mass daily.

Jesus will always remain really, truly, and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist. He is the same Jesus in the tabernacle. Tonight, when we go to adore him in turns publicly at the altar of repose, we too will find him again. He is real in the Blessed Sacrament.

During this Eucharistic meal, Jesus gave a new commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you." Then he did something unusual. He stooped down and washed the feet of his disciples one after the other. This in the culture of the Jews this was the duty of a slave, who washed the feet of his master anytime he returns home from a trip. For the Jews, the slave was on a lower level of humanity. A slave was treated like an object. In performing this duty of a slave, he displayed the highest level of humility. He said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (John 13:14-15). In what way should this be done in our world today?

In every diocese, the bishop should not be a 'Lord' but a servant. He should see his exalted office as a call to service in imitation of Christ who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom to many (cf.Matt.20:28) In every parish, the parish priest and his associate should not be a dictator but an approachable personality. In every out station, the catechist must be a kind-hearted teacher of catechesis. In every zone, the leaders should not be exconmunicators or tax collectors, but lovers of all, especially the sick, and sympathisers of the bereaved.

This Holy Thursday is an opportunity for us to ask ourselves sincerely, if those people around us, where we spend greatest part of our lives, know that we are Christ's disciples by the amiable understanding and welcoming approach we have in our relationship with them.

Jesus has given us himself to eat forever. How much have we given ourselves to others? How much have we given ourselves to God, to the Church, to our neighbours? How much have we sincerely served the society, the Church, and our country? Jesus only promoted the servers, not the served. The Gospel of Matthew 20:25-28 reminds us of this fact.

May we see among us the image of Jesus. May our church and political leaders serve in imitation of Christ who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many through Christ our Lord. Amen.

OR

HOMILY FOR THE MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Exodus 12:1-8.11-14; Ps.116; 1Cor.11:23-26; John 13:1-15

Lessons from the Lord’s Supper

This celebration is called the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. What makes this supper remarkable is not just that it was precisely the last meal Jesus had with his disciples but also because of what He did during the meal. From the opening sentence of today’s gospel, we see that Jesus was fully conscious of the fact that this was the last supper he was having with his disciples. We can say that Jesus was at the point of death. At such moment of life, food should be the last thing in mind of the person in question and those around. No one talks about food for a dying person; yet this was what was paramount for Jesus. Like an average preparation for death, Jesus, through this meal, was putting finishing touch to his stay on earth. In this meal, he shared his life with this disciples, he instituted the priesthood and he, by example, showed the disciples the dignity and necessity of service.

Sharing his life with the disciples at this last meal meant that Jesus’ life is not being taken away from him. It is Jesus who gives his life for the salvation of the world. So the death of Jesus was neither murder nor suicide; it was simply a free, conscious and sacrificial offering of one’s life for the salvation of humanity. Unlike other meals, Jesus becomes the food that the disciples partook of. Notice that none of the disciples were missing because, he who has not shared life with Jesus will lack the capacity to give this life to others. The capacity to share life with one another is not activated by our mere presence or partaking of the Eucharist banquet. Judas was present too but he was seeking for an opportunity to betray the Master. Added to partaking at the Eucharistic Banquet, we must give love a chance in our dealings with one another. If there is one thing that will make a waste of the graces of God in us, it is lack of love. Judas had no love.

Our cultural setting as Africans configures us into a life-sharing life style. As Africans, we necessarily do a lot of things together: we celebrate together, mourn together, respect our elders, etc. Our culture has beautifully installed values in our relationships with one another. Yet, we still find cases of man inhumanity to man, wickedness, envy, character assassination and many other social vices. The perpetrators of these vices remain outwardly communal and relational. The problem is: they do all these without love, but for convention sake. Beloved, enough of doing the right thing, being in the right place, saying the right thing but without love. Where love is lacking, nothing else makes sense. Culture cannot legislate true love.

In this last supper, Jesus instituted the priesthood. The priesthood is a life-giving vocation. The one who is a priest, has received the life of Christ and is charged to continually and gratuitously give his life (which has become the life of Christ) to others. This life-giving must necessarily draw its strength from the Eucharist banquet where the life was first shared. Therefore, it is a complete contradiction if the frequent/daily celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the daily visitation to the Blessed Sacrament do not form the core of the Priestly life. The starting point to becoming a sacramental machine is for a priest to lack these core values; there are no excuses or alternatives to these. It is only from the Eucharist that the priest learns how to meaningfully serve in this changing and challenging time. Remember that the Lord has given this as a command: Do this in remembrance of me.

As the priest constantly strives to share his life with the people, he becomes very vulnerable as he realizes that many Judas surround him as it was for Jesus. It is increasingly difficult for the priest to trust the words, approaches, gesticulations, emotional outburst, stories and cries of the people he ministers to because, while he may want to believe that they are real and harmless, they may only be a trap to victimize him, ridicule him, take advantage of him in a way that his sublime vocation does not permit. Ordinarily, his humanness should help him to be more compassionate in his service. But he is constantly tempted to hide this humanness for fear of being preyed upon. In as much as the Priest gives his life, this life should not be stolen from him; it is not the same thing. In the seminary and other avenues of continuous formation, the Priest (weak in himself) is taught to bear with the failings of the people. But he soon realizes that while some will not excuse his own weaknesses, others are consciously discouraging him from struggling to be Priestly. Beloved, the priest who helps us, also needs our help. Pray for your priest, genuinely care for your priest, fraternally correct your priest and forgive this priest.

In the course of the meal also, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. He did for them what the Jewish culture demands that a servant should do for the master. Peter could not fathom the contrary: the master serving the servants. For Jesus, the goal here is to teach the disciples the necessity of service. His choice of the teaching method shows how important this lesson is. He could have chosen to simply say: always be of service to others irrespective of seniority or class. But he chose to practically wash his disciples’ feet.

Beloved, often times, we complain that those for whom we are responsible, do not listen to us. We also observe that we have been preaching/admonishing but people are not listening. It is time to use Jesus’ method: teach by example. The fact is, talk is very cheap. People judge us by what we say but more by what we do. It is easier to for someone to forget what you said to him/her than to forget what you did to him/her. Be that change that you desire in others.

On the other hand, notice that Jesus told Peter the grave implication of not allowing himself to be washed. This means that if after we have been taught by example, we still refuse to learn, our judgment will be severe. Let us stop the negative habit of justifying our bad habits on the basis of negative influences of the environment we grew up. Everyone has a fair share of bad and good experiences while growing up (though to different degrees). But it is you who will choose which of these experiences will remain with and manifest in you. For every negative influence we may have, there are positive examples around for a counter influence. Do not close your eyes to the good examples around while make excuses with the bad ones you have held on to. We must be responsible enough to sieve the bad away from the good and make the good our own.

Beloved, so many things are not yet perfect in each one of us; and we must do something about it. Thus, we have a lot to discuss with the Lord during the hour of silent adoration. May our watching with him bring us salvation. Amen!