HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY YEAR C (1)

HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY YEAR C

THEME: THE HOLY MASS, A FEAST IN THE LORD’S HONOUR!

BY: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY APRIL 14 2022

*Is 61 : 1 – 9, Rev 1 : 5 – 8, Lk 4 : 16 – 21.

A. PREAMBLE
The priesthood of the New Testament (which we celebrate today) was inaugurated by Christ’s victimhood on th

HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY YEAR C

THEME: THE HOLY MASS, A FEAST IN THE LORD’S HONOUR!

BY: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY APRIL 14 2022

 

*Is 61 : 1 – 9, Rev 1 : 5 – 8, Lk 4 : 16 – 21.

A. PREAMBLE
The priesthood of the New Testament (which we celebrate today) was inaugurated by Christ’s victimhood on the Cross of Calvary. According to St Melito of Sardis in today’s Office of the readings: ‘He is the passover of our salvation. He was present (as Word of God) in many as to endure many things; In Abel, he was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob a stranger, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed, in David persecuted, in the Prophets (like Jeremiah) dishonoured, became incarnate of the Virgin; the silent lamb (Is 50 : 6) that was slain (Rev 4 : 12) – not one of his bones will be broken (Ex 12 : 46)’.
The effort to destroy the priesthood and the reverence for the Eucharist in modern times have become the greatest danger facing Christianity today. And the task of making christians understand the whole theology of communion is one of the hardest catechetical challenges for the modern day church, especially the doctrine of the real presence. On this great feast of the Holy Thursday, we need to look at the origin of the mass as the ancient feast in memorial of our Lord’s passion, see the historical developments and be in a position to reappraise its import in our society of today.

B. THE EUCHARISTIC TRADITION
The instructions given to Moses in today’s 1st reading is that an animal without blemish must be slaughtered. The image of Abel and Isaac are biblical prototypes of Jesus’ Passover meal. Some of the blood must be taken away and put on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. The promise is that ‘When I see the blood I will pass over you’.
Another instruction is that this day is to be a day of remembrance for all generations of the children of God. Till today, the Jews celebrate it as Passover, Muslims celebrate what looks like it as Ramadan while Christians celebrate it as the paschal mystery.
St Paul says in today’s 2nd reading; For this is what I received from the Lord and in turn passed on to you…’This is my body which will be given up for you; do this as a memorial of me’. He went on to say; ‘This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me’. The mass is that memorial sacrifice and on this feast of the evening mass of our Lord’s Supper, it was inaugurated and this tradition has remained.

C. THE PRIESTLY TRADITION
Jesus showed how perfect his love for mankind was by the priestly sacrifice of his body and blood, Jn 15 : 12 – 15. The 2nd element of the priestly tradition of Jesus is to wash the feet of the apostles before they actually ate this meal. He told Peter: ‘If I do not wash you, you can have no communion with me’.
According to the CCC 6111 ‘Without the priest, there is no Eucharist. When there is no sacrifice there is no priest, Heb 5 : 1. Every wave of anticlericalism is therefore an indirect revolt against the Eucharist. Every revolt against the bishop is also a revolt against the Eucharist because the bishop empowers the priest with the powers to confect the Eucharist.

D. CONTEXTUALIZATION
The Mass is the greatest liturgical prayer – the greatest feast in honour of the Lord. It took so many years of historical development from the apostolic ritual of breaking of bread to the form we have it today. The sacrament of reconciliation is the lifewire of Christian spirituality because Christ said that if he does not wash us, we cannot have communion with him. He does this through his priests as he enjoins us when we are in a terrible state of sin to; ‘Go and show yourself to the priest’, Lk 5 : 4. This has also taken so many years of historical development to come to the form of auricular confession we have it today.
The role of the New testament priest is to make these two celebrations possible. Jesus knows those who are going to betray him that is why he told them that ‘not all of you are clean’. Christians continue to betray him today through their avarice, hypocrisy, fortune telling, divination, etc.

E. CONCLUSION
Christ has given us an example we should copy; about liturgical celebration (Mass), about the sacraments of salvation (Eucharist and Reconciliation), about the priesthood and about Christian leadership. He concludes by saying: ‘If I then, the Lord and Master have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet too!’.
Humility is the most salient theme of the Holy Week celebration beginning from Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and culminating on Good Friday. Whenever Christianity stops copying Christ’s behaviour, it turns into ‘Christianism’ – a mere social club; our cathedrals may begin to collapse in ruins or get destroyed by terrorists, our priesthood will become smeared with scandals, our christians will be corrupted by the prosperity gospel and Christianity becomes like a rolling stone gathering no moss.
Only a revival of the spirituality of the holy mass with special attention to the ministry of the Word and Eucharistic communion will restore the depth of holiness of the Church of Christ. Remember what God told the Israelites, that ‘this day shall be kept as a memorial celebration for all generations’. Let our own generation not be the one to neglect the holy mass, as we celebrate our weddings, funerals and other important functions we do everyday. Happy Triduum!

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