HOLY THURSDAY EVENING MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER: YEAR C

HOLY THURSDAY EVENING MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER: YEAR C

HOMILY THEME: DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME!

BY: Fr Cyril Unachukwu CCE

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

The Holy Week is always a nostalgic period in the life of the Church and in the Life of every Christian. This is because of the profundity of the celebrations and commemorations therein celebrated. At the Heart of the Holy Week is the Sacred Triduum in which the centre of the Paschal Mysteries of Christ (His Suffering, Death, Burial and Resurrection) are commemorated and celebrated in a grand style. Our celebration of these events reconnects us anew to the mystery of our Salvation and to the inexhaustible fountain of God’s offer of grace to us in Christ. May we be transformed into concrete testimonies of the mysteries we celebrate; Amen.

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With the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper of Holy Thursday, we solemnly begin the Sacred Triduum. However, the Liturgical Celebrations of the Holy Thursday are in two principal parts. The First part, the Chrism Mass, is normally celebrated in the Morning hours by the Bishops of the respective dioceses with all of the Priests present in the presence of the entire Christ’s Faithful (Religious and Lay). In this Mass, all the priests renew their Priestly Vows and Commitments, as the Universal Church marks the Institution of the Sacred and Ministerial Priesthood at the table of the Last Supper. Hence, this day is normally celebrated as the Day of Priests. Today, we particularly pray for all Priests all over the world, that God may renew in us the anointing of His grace and the sacred unction to fully and fruitfully function. Within the Celebration of the Chrism Mass, the three Liturgical and Sacramental Oils are blessed, namely the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumen and lastly the Oil of Chrism which is consecrated after being mixed with the Balsam. The Balsam is an aromatic oily substance of botanical origin with very sweet smell that gives the Oil of Chrism its peculiar and very attractive scent. This sweet and very attractive smell is for the purpose of reminding those who would be sacramentally anointed with the Chrism Oil to always protect and exude from themselves and from their actions and choices the sweet smell of sanctity which Christ generously deposits in those who sacramentally encounter Him. These three blessed Oils constitute part of the Instrumentum laboris (Instruments of work) of the Church and of the Church’s ministers throughout the Liturgical Year. The Second Part of the Liturgy of today is the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper in which is particularly commemorated the Institution of the Holy Eucharist within the same context of the Last Supper. To aptly indicate to His disciples and to all of us the great link between the Ministerial Priesthood, the Holy Eucharist and the Call to Service, Jesus in the Gospel Reading of this evening’s Liturgy “got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; He then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel He was wearing” (John 13:1-15). Afterwards, Jesus remarked to His disciples, “if I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” In order to commemorate and underline this remarkable example of Jesus to His disciples and to remind every priest of the centrality of Service to the Vocation to the Priesthood and to the Christian Life, the Liturgical Rite of the Washing of Feet is normally done in the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The Holy Eucharist does not only empower us to bear witness to Christ but also enables us to serve our brothers and sisters after the mind and example of Christ. Every Celebration of the Holy Eucharist leads us back to the experience of the disciples at the Table of the Last Supper and subsequently on the Cross where Christ totally offered Himself for all of us and for our Salvation. Through the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we are drawn back to the drawing board, to Christ the only and proper Model of the Christian Life. No wonder He was very emphatic in telling His disciples “this is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me… this cup is the new Covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me” (1 Cor 11:23-26). To forget Christ is to stably establish oneself on the path of destruction. The Eucharist remains the surest path to connect to Christ and to all of the merit of His Life and Mission. Through the merits and fruitful celebration and reception of the Eucharist, we are marked for safety and for Salvation just in the same manner of the experience of the People of Israel in the Celebration of the Passover of the Lord over the land of Egypt; “when I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague” (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14). In the Eucharist, we celebrate God’s love for us and we invoke His mantle of protection over us and our entire households.

Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Priest of the New and Everlasting Covenant, renew the spiritual and moral vigour of your priests through the power of the Holy Spirit. May You constantly nourish all of us at the Sacred Table of Your Most Holy Body and Blood to the greater glory of God the Father and for the betterment of the World; Amen. May You Have a Fruitful Celebration.

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