🎧 [Listen to Homily: Audio]
📺 [Watch Mass: YouTube Video]
1. The Passover That Becomes the First Mass
Tonight, we
remember the first Mass—the Lord’s Supper.
It was also
the Last Supper.
And it was a
Passover meal.
In the first
reading, we hear very specific instructions about that meal. Even down to how
the lamb is to be shared—if a family is too small, they must join with another
household.
These
details show us something:
This moment
matters.
Even if the
people living it didn’t fully understand it yet.
They would
only understand it later.
Just like
Peter, who doesn’t understand why Jesus is washing his feet—until later.
2. More Than a Beginning: What Comes After
Sometimes we
measure important moments by how they begin.
A wedding
day.
A baptism.
A milestone birthday.
We put a lot
of effort into getting the moment just right.
I remember
when we were planning a surprise party for my mother’s 70th birthday. It took
months of preparation, and we worked hard to keep it a secret.
My father,
especially, was worried he might say something and give it away. He told me
later there were many times he almost did.
On the day
of the party, he wanted to go out with my sister and brother-in-law to check on
the restaurant, so he told my mother they were all going out to look at / shop for
golf clubs—which wasn’t true. And he was nervous the whole time that he had
said too much.
My mother
didn’t notice at all. She was just happy everyone was doing what they needed to
do.
In the end,
the surprise worked.
And my
sister said something beautiful at the party—that my father’s anxiousness was
really a sign of his care, his precision, his love.
But what we
were celebrating wasn’t just my mother’s life in the past.
We were
celebrating her life still being lived…
and the life still to come.
3. The Last Supper That Continues
And that’s
what tonight is about.
The Last
Supper is not just something that happened once.
It is
something that continues.
At that
meal, Jesus does something astonishing.
He takes
bread and says:
“This is my
body, given for you.”
He takes the
cup:
“This is my
blood, poured out for you.”
And then He
says:
“Do this in
memory of me.”
That moment
did not end in the upper room.
It continues
every time we come to Mass.
4. Not Just a Meal: The Living Eucharist
The
Eucharist is not just a symbol.
It is not just a reminder.
And it is not just a meal.
In an
ordinary meal, we eat food that is no longer alive in order to sustain the life
that is already in us.
But in the
Eucharist, something very different is happening.
We receive
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ—who is alive.
And instead
of the food sustaining our life,
He gives us His life.
He comes to
dwell within us.
And that is
what a sacrament is:
An outward
sign that makes present an inward reality.
What we see
is bread and wine.
But what we receive is Jesus Himself—
His Body, His Blood, His life.
5. The New Commandment: Love Like Christ
But Holy
Thursday is not only about the Eucharist.
It is also
about how we are called to live because of it.
Because
right after giving us the Eucharist…
Jesus kneels
down and washes the feet of His disciples.
The Master
becomes the servant.
And then He
gives us a new commandment:
Love one
another as I have loved you.
6. “The Master Has Need of You”
Several
years ago, I heard a homily by Bishop Robert Barron about a line from the
Gospel:
“The Master
has need of it.”
He first
noticed that line on a newly ordained priest’s prayer card.
Just that
one line.
“The Master
has need of it.”
The Lord
chooses to rely on others.
He chooses
to work through what is ordinary.
And that
includes us.
The Master
has need of you.
As a
husband.
As a wife.
As a parent.
As a friend.
As a disciple.
7. Learning to Listen and Share in Mercy
Years ago,
before I ever thought seriously about the priesthood, I had an experience that
didn’t seem important at the time.
I was on a
plane coming back from Washington, D.C., and sitting next to me was my hometown
pastor.
We started
talking, and he told me he was leaving his parish for a new assignment. In
fact, I was the first person he was telling.
And I
listened.
But
honestly, I didn’t really understand what he was going through. I didn’t
understand priestly life or the diocese. If you asked him, he’d probably tell
you how clueless I was.
But I was
trying to listen.
Looking
back, I see that moment differently.
What felt
like a coincidence…
was actually a moment of grace.
I was being
invited to listen.
To care.
To enter into someone else’s experience.
And that is
exactly what Jesus does for us.
“We do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness.”
Jesus
understands us.
And tonight,
He asks us to do the same.
8. Becoming What We Receive
Because the
Eucharist is not just something we receive.
It is
something we are meant to become.
When Jesus
says:
“This is my
body, given for you,”
those are
not just words for the priest.
They are
words for all of us.
They are the
words of a parent for a child.
The words of spouses.
The words of someone caring for a loved one:
“This is my
life, given for you.”
So the
question tonight is simple:
Are we
living those words?
The people
in our lives don’t need us to be perfect.
They need us
to show up.
To listen.
To forgive.
To love.
And the good
news is this:
God does not
choose us because we are strong.
He chooses
us because He loves us.
And He is
faithful.
So tonight,
as we receive the Eucharist,
we don’t
just remember what Jesus did.
We receive
who He is.
And we are
sent to live like Him.
Because the
Master still has need of you.
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