+ Tonight we begin the solemn Three Day observance of the
Passion and Death and Resurrection of the Lord.
In this Mass we remember how the Lord Jesus
designated his desire for all people of all time to not only remember, but also to be an actual witness of his unspeakable agony and torture and
crucifixion, and also his glorious and astounding resurrection to newness of
life! He did it by the events of his
Last Supper with his closest friends, the Apostles. It was during that
highly ritualistic Passover supper that Jesus added something new: he added an
extra step to it: he took bread and wine
that was already on the table and changes them into his own very real,
substantial and tangible Body and Blood – really and truly - a supernatural event that requires faith to
make any sense. And then he told the Apostles to do this always in his memory!
What was contained in that new
ritual, that new consecration, that new transubstantiation was all of the
events that would follow that evening, up to not only his resurrection from the
dead three days later, but also his ascension into heaven in forty days’ time,
and the sending of the Spirit fifty days hence. Therefore, when anyone attends
the Holy Event of the Mass from then on they would not just be a witness, but
also a participant in its life-saving, sin-forgiving effects!
And then to punctuate the
meaning of tonight’s service, Jesus tells us that it is not only necessary for
us to be there at the Cross and Tomb with him, but we must also take the spiritual insight and strength taken from each
new participation and allow it to make a difference in the way we live our
everyday lives: in this way we resemble him all the more and the Father looks
down on us and is very pleased.
For the Baptized Catholic
Christian there must be evidence of putting the belief that all of this is real
into the action of loving service.
This is why Jesus, in the gospel passage tonight, washes the feet of his
disciples; thus, demonstrating both the humility
required a member of his Body the Church, and also the spirit and activity of service to those in need which is essential
to the definition of a Catholic Christian! Christianity
without loving service is like a body without a heart!
May
our hearts beat with the very love of Jesus whom we will receive adoringly in this
most special of all Eucharistic Celebrations – and lead us out into the
highways and byways to make that all-inclusive love known everywhere!
I give
you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.
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