This was my homily for the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper this past Holy Triduum:
There are two principal celebrations that should take place on Holy Thursday, but in most dioceses do not because of practical considerations. The first celebration is in the morning when the priests of the diocese gather with their bishop for the Chrism Mass. This Mass has two purposes. The first follows the homily and is the renewal of promises that the priest made at his ordination as the bishop questions them. Then the laity pray for their bishop and priests. Holy Thursday is the day that the priesthood is instituted by Jesus Christ! The Chrism Mass acknowledges that!
Then the bishop consecrates the Chrism that will be used for Holy Baptism (applied to all the people of God in Baptism and Confirmation as we are all priestly people in this regard but obviously the ministerial priesthood has a different function than the general priesthood from where they come). Chrism is also used to anoint the hands of the priest (and the head of the bishop) who uses the "laying on of hands" in five of the seven sacraments: Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance and Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders. It doesn't get any more "ordained priesthood" than that! Sacred Chrism is also used to anoint churches and altars in their "baptism and consecration." And of course the priest will use the oil of catechumens and the Oil of the sick in his priestly ministry as well. Then following the ceremony of the oils, the bishop and priests concelebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Then the priests symbolically bring the various oils back to their parishes as they prepares to celebrate the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper with his parish. In many places the oils and Sacred Chrism are brought to the altar in the offertory procession and recognized. (We do so here at St. Joseph).
The source and summit of the priesthood of the laity and the ordained is the celebration of the Mass. But the Catholic priesthood, whose ministry is in continuity with the sacrificial priesthood of the Old Testament, also differs with it and Jesus Christ himself shows us this in tonight’s Gospel when He washes the feet of the 12 apostles as an example to them and all future bishops and priests that their priesthood also means not worrying about becoming “unclean” themselves.
The Old Testament priest would never visit the hospital, touch the sick, help a traveler injured on the side of the road, because that would render him impure and unable to do his temple work. Not so for the Catholic priest, for Jesus purifies the work of ministry and makes it priestly too! In other words, the Catholic priests works both in the temple and the world bringing the Good News to all and models for the laity what their baptismal priesthood entails which is one of service to those in need, especially in their family but also in the larger human family. I suspect that if I were an Old Testament priest and washed the feet of 12 people before you in the Temple, many would be scandalized and the priest would not be able to offer the sacrifice. But not so in this Catholic temple tonight!
All of us who are baptized and confirmed and receiving Holy Communion worthily should be Catholics and good ones at that, not only in the confines of this church building but at home, work and play. We are to show forth Christ in our own actions of prayer and loving acts of kindness that might mean getting dirty ourselves sometimes.
But this service begins at home and shouldn’t be too seen a merely temple duty or "churchifyed." For example, when I was first ordained, there was a workhorse of a parishioner in my parish who came to Mass every day, taught CCD, was a Communion Minister, worked for an outreach to the poor in the parish called “Neighbors in Need.” But eventually I came to hear from her husband and children that she was an absent mother and wife. She spent all her time in Church work. Charity begins and home and so does the washing of the feet with our families sometimes who are the neediest in our midst. There is a reason why there is a joke that the Protestant minister’s kids are the worst ones in town.
Tied into tonight’s celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus institutes the Mass within the context of a Passover meal. In the Middle East a meal is not fast food and catch as catch can. It is a family event. All sit at table together and the table is set nicely and they take their time eating and socializing. But he changes the meaning of the Passover and makes it clear that Jesus sacrifice on Good Friday will be perpetually offered by the bishops and priests of the Church in union with all God's people in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass until Jesus returns at the end of time. And Jesus Himself will be present in the Bread and Wine that becomes His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, His Real Presence.
The Catholic Mass is not an informal event. It is not fast food and catch as catch can. And neither should the family’s main meal be.
I am afraid the following example is typical of the modern American family today. Many Catholic families never eat a meal at that dining room table. One child eats at one time, another at another time and sometimes they eat different things and then they go on to the next endless activity.
When I was a child, my father and mother expected that we children would eat at 5:00 PM each day except for Saturday and we would have our main meal on Sunday at 12 noon. The table would be set simply but properly, there would be proper etiquette at the table and we would eat on time and talk during and after the meal. And then we would all help clean up. That is the Church in miniature which the family is meant to be! And from the home, the family goes to their various activities and commitments always bringing Christ with them and preaching him not necessarily with their words but with the actions of their lives.
We as Catholics have a grave responsibility to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance regularly, attend Mass every Sunday, receive our Lord worthily and go out into the world and live our Catholic faith and identity as an example to others.
What kind of reputation do we Catholics have in Macon, Georgia? What kind of reputation do our Catholic schools have? Our Catholic children and teenagers? Our Catholic mothers and fathers, husbands and wives? Does the Macon community see anything unique and different about Catholic Christianity from the Catholics they know and see?
Pope Francis said in his first homily as pope: “We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable Organization, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord.”
We Catholics honor our Lord by receiving Him worthily and worthily bringing Christ to the world in all we say and do.
But what we do on Holy Thursday and everyday of the week in this temple is not just about a beautiful ceremony as beautiful as it is and it is not just about piety. It is meant to point us to the Kingdom, where we are in complete union and made perfect in the Real Presence of our Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus. His Crucified, Risen and Gloried shows us the Father and the Holy Spirit and He shows us all who are redeemed in His Blood, His death and His resurrection, the saints clothed in their white robes of victory. May this Mass and every Mass point us in the right direction of our Pilgrimage in this life, our walk, that culminates in the life of glory, the life of eternal salvation in union with God almighty and all His saints and angels.
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