Christ, Eucharist,
Love and Service (CELS)[a];
Homily Mass of the
Last Super Year ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
·
Readings: Exod 12:1-8,
11-14;
·
Ps 116:12-13,
15-16bc, 17-18;
·
1 Cor 11:23-26
·
John 13:1-15
On Tuesday evening here in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (Wednesday
evening in Ikot Ekpene Diocese), the Bishops, clergy, religious and the entire
faithful gathered around the Archbishop at the Cathedral of St. John the
Evangelist to celebrate the Chrism Mass. That evening liturgy (celebrated as
well in every cathedral all over the world) was an expression of our faith in
Christ, the High Priest, the unity of the Sacred Priesthood and appreciation of
Christ’s one redeeming Sacrifice of Love. Oils of Catechumens, the Sick and of
the Chrism were blessed. Oils that the Holy Father Pope Francis, like his
predecessors, during his Chrism Mass in Rome has encouraged every priests to go
out and anoint the faithful with- including the sick, the poor and the needy!
Tonight we begin
the Sacred Triduum, three solemn days which encompass the Paschal Mystery of
Jesus- Christ and draw each and every one of us into his passion, death and
resurrection. You and I know the power of memory, remembrance! Remembering is
so powerful. It revitalizes, reactivates and keeps past reality alive in
us. Holy Thursday brings to our minds three gifts or anniversaries:
the gifts or anniversary of the Lord’s Super/the Holy Eucharist, the gift or
anniversary of the Sacred Priesthood and the gift or anniversary of Christ redeeming love, love that is
stronger than death, stronger than the fear of the fleeing disciples, stronger
than the untruthfulness of the power mongering Pilate and of the few “Jewish
elites”; a love stronger than the betrayal of Judas, the denials of Peter, the
mockeries of the Roman soldiers and the human selfishness. Christ, the
High priest loves his own to the end- all of us, our pastor, our priests,
deacons, s sisters, mom, dad, our children, friends, grandpa and grandma (Jn
13:1). Where ever you are located here in this Church tonight or standing out
there in the narthex, know that Christ loves you!
We remember
tonight how Jesus transformed the Jewish Passover into a New Testament
Passover/the Eucharist. Remember, the Passover was a joint celebration of the
two ancient thanksgiving celebration by the descendants of Abel and Cain who
were shepherds and farmers, respectively.
Historically, Abel’s
descendants would lead their sheep from winter pastures to summer pastures
after the sacrificial offering of the lamb, known as Pass-over, while
Cain’s descendants, farmers held a harvest festival known as a “Massoth.”
The Passover of Exodus 12 was a combination of these two ancient festivals. It
was a thanksgiving celebration to God for leading and freeing them from slavery
in Egypt and giving them the promise land. This was later transformed by Christ
by Christ into a NT Passover, the Eucharist!
The Eucharist is a
banquet of love and service. It provides us a particular opportunity to
remember not only how much God loves and would want to “wash our feet” but His
ever living presence in our lives, in our homes and families. I remember
growing up in a family of six children surrounded with many nieces and nephews.
We ate together and served one another from the same plates and drink from the
same cup. In sharing and serving I would feel the deep love, the friendship,
the nourishment, the strength and the support of my family. We would laugh,
joke and talk with trust about events in life, and some of them very important.
I want to
believe that when Christ gathered his disciple in that upper room for that Last
Super, a night before his passion he knew the importance of a shared meal, a
meal of love and sacrifice; a meal that nourishes and strengthen us in our
weaknesses. He wanted this sacred meal, this new Passover to be remembered. He
says “Do this in memory of me” (MK14:22ff; Matt 26:26ff, Lk 22:19ff and John
13:1-15), instituting also the Ministerial Priesthood.
In the
Second Reading Paul of today Paul says,
“ I received from
the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was
handed over, took break, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said,
“this is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” With the cup
Christ said, “this is cup is the new Covenant in my blood, do this as often as
you drink it in remembrance of me (1 Cor 11:23-26).”
Jesus will always
remain really and substantially present with us in the Holy Eucharist. After
this meal tonight Jesus would walk across to that garden of Gethsemane (in the
daily chapel) from there he would be arrested, harshly interrogated by Annas,
Caiaphas and brought to Pilates’ Praetorium for trial. Jesus as John will
testify will be killed on the cross sacrificially at the same hour the
paschal lamb of the Jewish Passover is slaughtered (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14),
making Christ the new Passover Lamb, the cup of the new Covenant of love and
Service. On the Cross his bones will not be broken and his priestly inner -
seamless tunic will not be torn nor shared among soldiers. In this Jesus is
protective of each and every one of us, our marriage and religious vows, family
values, Christian unity (“May they be one” Jn 17), our priesthood, friendship
and faith. He also knew the journey to that cross would be rough but his
priestly dignity would remain intact, a tunic of love – challenging even the
modern priesthood, in need of your prayers always.
In Exodus chapter
29:4 at the ordination ceremony of Priests, Aaron’s feet and those of his children
were washed at the entrance of the tent as stipulated in the old laws (Lev
8:6), for a different reason, external purification. But still in the
context of this meal Christ gave us a sign of interior purification (John
13:1-15) by washing the feet of his disciples, something deeper than deeper
than external ritual.
By washing
the feet of his disciple Jesus shows the depth of his love, a love leading to
the cross. He teaches the hesitant Peter and all of us new way of sacrificial
Love, a new way of service and friendship. Not a new way of “eye service.” He
teaches us a new way of self-transcendence not a new way of self-
aggrandizement. He teaches us a new way to serve not a new way to be served; a
new way of humble friendship with all including the poor, the prisoners and the
marginalized. By washing his disciples feet Jesus overcome by love the
inequality that existed by nature between himself and those whom he had chosen
as friends. I always believe that how we treat one another publicly or in private
is the true measure of the condition of our interior life, especially of our
life of prayer.
As we celebrate these
three gifts, especially, Last Super sharing in the bread and wine of new
covenant of love and selfless service, Christ, a model priest, and ready to
adore him at that Altar of Repose in that garden, let us know that Christ sees
us, he loves us and recognizes us. He sees the rich, the poor and the
downtrodden. Let us know that having been washed clean, we have been
given the spiritual capacity and blessed with the divine strength of his
examples (John 13:12-15) to love and serve one another as Christ, our exemplary
priest, friend and brother has first loved us.
Reflection
Questions
1.
What prevents us
from loving and serving one another as Christ has first loved and served us?
2.
Do we see Christ
as our exemplary priest and strife to imitate him?
3.
What prevents us,
if any, from believing in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist?
Christ,
Eucharist, Love and Service (CELS)[b]
Thursday
of the Holy Week (Holy Thursday Year ABC)
·
Exod 12:1-8, 11-14;
·
Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18;
·
1 Cor 11:23-26
·
John 13:1-15
Christ,
Eucharist, Love and Service (CELS)
Chrism
Mass
[On Tuesday evening here in the Archdiocese
of Milwaukee, the Bishops, clergy, religious and the entire faithful
gathered around the Archbishop at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to
celebrate the Chrism Mass. This celebration is also held in many other global
dioceses, as appropriate. Chrism Mass/Liturgy is an expression and a
celebration of our faith in Christ, the High Priest, the unity of the Sacred
Priesthood and Christ’s one redeeming Sacrifice of Love. On this day when
the Catholic Church celebrates the meaning of priesthood, Oils of Catechumens,
the Sick and of the Chrism are blessed. Oils that the Holy Father, Pope
Francis during his Chrism Mass in Rome(few years ago)encouraged every priests
to carry, go out with, and prayerfully anoint the faithful with, especially the
sick, the poor, the afflicted, the terrorized and the needy( in Brussels)
everywhere!
Mass of the Last Supper
Tonight (even as the world prays for the victims of Brussels’ bombing attacks 2016, the burning down of the Notre Dame Cathedral 2019) we begin the Sacred Triduum. These three solemn days encompass the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. In this three days we are invited to remember in a special way the significance of the saving and redeeming events of the passion, death and resurrection and resurrection of Christ. You and I know the power of memory, remembrance! Remembrance is powerful. It revitalizes, reactivates and keeps past reality alive in us, as evident in tonight’s bible lessons Exodus 12, the Passover which memorialized divine freedom of Israel from Egypt, 1 Corinthian 11, the last supper, and John 13- Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples.
Tonight (even as the world prays for the victims of Brussels’ bombing attacks 2016, the burning down of the Notre Dame Cathedral 2019) we begin the Sacred Triduum. These three solemn days encompass the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. In this three days we are invited to remember in a special way the significance of the saving and redeeming events of the passion, death and resurrection and resurrection of Christ. You and I know the power of memory, remembrance! Remembrance is powerful. It revitalizes, reactivates and keeps past reality alive in us, as evident in tonight’s bible lessons Exodus 12, the Passover which memorialized divine freedom of Israel from Egypt, 1 Corinthian 11, the last supper, and John 13- Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples.
In
other words, on Holy Thursday, “Maundy Thursday”, which in Latin- “Mandatum
Thursday, from the root” I give," which means “a Thursday of
gift,” of command, order or mandate. As captured in the readings,
tonight we remember three important gifts: the gifts of the Lord’s
Super/the Holy Eucharist, the gift of the Sacred Priesthood and the gift of
Christ redeeming love; love that is stronger than death; love that is stronger
than the fear of the fleeing disciples, love that is stronger than the
untruthfulness of the power mongering Pilate and of the few “Jewish elites”;
Christ’s love that is stronger than the betrayal of Judas, the denials of
Peter, the mockeries of the Roman soldiers, the human selfishness, that shows
up in different forms in our today’ world.
Among
the gifts we celebrate tonight, the strongest, the common denominator is the Mandatum
of Christ, the Love of Christ, which he shares with us, and encourages us,
commands us to go out and share with our neighbors and wash our neighbors'
feet.
Look
at it this way. It was out of love that God the Father free Israel
tonight, from the clutches of Pharaoh in Egypt. God the Father’s
gift of freedom to Israel is reenacted in the story of the Passover, in
the 1st reading (Exod 12:1-8, 11-14) culminating in
Exodus 12:14, which says, “this day [tonight] shall be a memorial feast
for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the
Lord, as perpetual institution.”
Like
Father, like Son! The Eucharist of which of which institution we reenact today,
and of which Saint Paul speaks of in the 2nd reading (1 Cor
11:23-26) is a banquet of love, gratitude and service. It provides us a
particular opportunity to remember not only how God the father freed ancient
Israel, but how he has extended this love and freedom to us through his son
Jesus Christ who loved his disciples to the end, shown in his
humble gestures of washing their feet in today’s Gospel reading (John 13:1-15).
By
washing the feet of his disciple Jesus shows the depth of his love, a love
leading to the cross; a suffering love! He teaches the hesitant Peter and all
of us new way of sacrificial Love, a new way of service and friendship. Not a
new way of “eye service.” He teaches us a new way of self-transcendence not a
new way of self- aggrandizement. He teaches us to wash our neighbors'
feet. He teaches us a new way to serve not a new way to be served; a new way of
humble friendship with all including the poor, the prisoners, the overpowered,
and the marginalized. By washing his disciples feet Jesus overcome by
love the inequality that existed by nature between himself and those whom he
had chosen as friends.
By
washing his disciples feet Christ is saying to us today, “enough of the kind of
attack” seen in Brussels [in 2016 and in other places]. Enough of unnecessary
wars, enough of terrorism, enough of ISISism and Bokoharamism,
enough of dysfunctional socio-economic structures in our world and nations’
politics, enough of hatred, racisms and unforgiving spirit in our homes,
families and societies, enough of the ministers of the gospel who are not
willing to reach out generously, selflessly, to the poor, sick, aged and
marginalized.
I
always believe that how we treat one another publicly or in private is the true
measure of the condition of our interior life, especially of our life of
prayer. This is the same message, our Holy Father, Pope Francis has continuously
promoted in his ministries!
As
we celebrate this Last Super sharing in the bread and wine of new covenant of
love, gratitude and selfless service, Christ, and ready to adore him at that
Altar of Repose in that garden, let us know that Christ sees us, in every
nation, state, county, town, dioceses, villages and out-reach stations. He
loves us and recognizes us. He sees the rich, the poor and the
downtrodden. Let us know that having been washed clean, we have been
given the spiritual capacity and blessed with the divine strength of his
examples (John 13:12-15) to joyfully love and gratefully serve one another as
Christ has first loved and served us.
Reflection
Questions
1.
What prevents us
from loving and serving one another as Christ has first loved and served us?
2.
Do we see Christ
as our exemplary priest and strife to imitate him?
3.
What prevents us,
if any, from believing in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist?
