Bishop Paul's Holy Thursday Homily 2020 : Full Text

Abu Dhabi.
 

1. Each one of us has memories of events, which are engraved in our heart for the rest of our life. Some of them we may commemorate every year like the birthday, the wedding day, the anniversary of the priestly ordination, the death anniversary of our parents and so on. There are days and hours in our lives, which are worthy to be kept in mind. It is similar in the life of the Church: Each time when we celebrate the holy Eucharist we recall to mind “the night he was betrayed”, the moment when Jesus was handed over to achieve his mission on the cross for the sake of our salvation. Indeed, this evening is full of memories carefully stored in the tradition and mind of the Church. It is good to call this day “Holy Thursday”. May be that this year we are particularly touched by the mysteries, as we cannot celebrate them in common as usual. We may now better understand the feelings of our brothers and sisters who in certain parts of the world like in Yemen were missing the Eucharistic celebration for years.

2. Already for the Israelites the memory of the liberation from the slavery in Egypt was connected to a liturgical meal within the family. The very precise rules how to celebrate the Passover, the smell and the taste of the roasted lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs should recall the whole history of their liberation. When Jews celebrate their Passover, they still follow the book of Exodus: “If your son should ask you later on, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall tell him, ‘With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, that place of slavery’” (Ex 13,14). By eating the lamb, they are tasting and experiencing in a sacramental way God’s salvation.

3.  In a similar way, the first Christian community after Easter recognized the presence of the Risen Christ in breaking the bred and drinking the wine, as Jesus has done and ordered on that last evening before his passion: “This is my body that is for you … This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11).  By the Lord’s command and by the power of his Holy Spirit each time, when the priest speaks Christ’s words over the bread and the wine, when we eat this bread and drink this cup, the Lord is really present: present in his death on the cross and in his resurrection, present with his infinite love for us sinners. He is present

• As the only son who speaks to us about his Father and his Kingdom;
• As the doctor who cares for the sick and heals them;
• As the prophet who is implored and touched by suffering people and by sinners;
• As the rabbi who speaks powerful words which nobody had ever heard;
• As the suffering servant in Gethsemane who commits himself to the will of his Father;
• As the Son who remains truthful to his Father until the death on the cross.

4.   Jesus gave us the holy Eucharist as a memorial that we develop a taste for his life. Today’s Gospel reading of the washing of the feet explains us very well what it means to “develop a taste for the life of Jesus”. Whoever is in communion with him and receives spiritually his body and his blood, should equally adopt the love and humility Jesus showed: “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master’, and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

5. We are used to celebrate the holy Mass and to receive the Holy Communion in the church, and to stay in adoration before the Holy Sacrament. This year all this is not possible in the usual way. However, as today’s gospel showed us, the Mass is not only the liturgy around the altar, it has to be lived in our lives. It is possible even during the pandemic when the churches are locked. The true Eucharist continues through our fraternal service to others, through words able to build peace, through acts inspiring hope, through the humility imitating Jesus who washed the feet of his disciples.  In a few words: The Holy Communion will be accomplished when we live and love as he did.

Brothers and Sisters, looking at Jesus during the celebrations of these days may help us to take a taste for his love in our own lives: We cannot follow him without carrying his cross and living the same spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. We cannot be close to him without serving our brothers and sisters. Let us pray that he will give us soon again his body as the bread of life and as the necessary nourishment on our way. Amen.