02 April 2026

02 April 2026 - Holy Thursday

Transcript

Reading:  

1 Corinthians 11:22

Write:  

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over…

Reflect:   

We have been handed a great and precious treasure. 

This is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. We need to see all of this as part of the single event we are celebrating over the next few days. We do not have the story of the Eucharistic Institution in the gospel story, because John… doesn’t have it. The other three Gospels do. And, as you have just heard from first Corinthians, there is a fourth Institution Narrative in the Scriptures. St. Paul gives us what is an abbreviated narrative for us to consider.

But he does give us in the close of our reading today what is for us the raison d’être for why we are here tonight: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” This French phrase means: “reason for being.” This is what is being handed on.

Apply:   

We have received – we have been handed – our very reason for being as we gather to celebrate – not just Holy Week, but every Mass. We have been handed a most precious gift. It has been handed to all of us. But in a special way, it has been placed into the hands of bishops, priests, and deacons.

Tonight we are celebrating the birth of the vocation to the priesthood and the episcopacy. The diaconate is here also, but their celebration also comes on a different day. Some place it on December 26th when we have the martyrdom of the first deacon: Stephen. But I think it is here on Holy Thursday for them as well.

There are some in the church today who want to downplay the role of the ordained ministry. They think it is somehow… limiting or dangerous to the rest of the church to focus on the role of the ordained ministry. But the church acknowledges that there is something… different for those who have been ordained. We are no longer the same. The church teaches that there are three sacraments that create something new in those who receive it. Those three Sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, and Ordination.

(Turn to the deacon:) We are not the same as everyone else here because of ordination. We have been called and set aside to serve specifically and explicitly the Body and Blood that has been handed on to us. (This is our raison d’être.) It is not because of something we have done, but it is something that Jesus has done in us, to us, and for us. That is why the Church, in her wisdom, chooses to spend so much time teaching us and preparing us to minister to her in our brothers and sisters.

(Turn back to the congregation:) And this leads us to your raison d’être: and no… it is not to stay, pray, and obey! You have been created new by the power of Baptism and Confirmation. You are different than the rest of the world who does not understand the powerful work of Christ and Him crucified. Look at the first stanza from our Responsorial Psalm tonight:

How shall I make a return to the LORD
    for all the good he has done for me?
 The cup of salvation I will take up,
    and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

If we are all going to take up the cup of salvation, it means we need to be ready to take it someplace else – namely out into the world. 

We will have five people joining Midtown Catholic on Saturday. There are thousands around the world who are choosing to join the church at the Easter Vigil. I would not be surprised in years to come to find many men from this group around the world becoming deacons and priests and maybe… even some year: bishops. But, as I said the church takes time to prepare men for this ministry. But none of you should stop and wait for them to start your work for the sake of the Kingdom. All of us are called, in our own way, to be doing the work of the Kingdom … Now!

This is what Jesus was preparing his disciples for when he washed their feet. Jesus said at the close of the gospel this evening: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

I admit, unfortunately, that my back will not let me wash the feet of some of you as you represent the parish. I’m afraid those years are gone. Just like tomorrow night, Good Friday: I will not prostrate in front of the altar. The last time I did, I almost took Deacon Tim to the ground with me when I could not get up.

But the call to humility and service is an important part of what it means to be a priest for me. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you. And, hopefully, I have a lot more years to go. Certainly, to quote Robert Frost, “I have promises to keep, miles to go before I sleep.”

Pray/Praise:   

Let us pray.

Lord tonight we are commemorating… celebrating Your Last Supper. Tomorrow our focus is on your death on the Cross. Then Saturday and Sunday we enter the Season of Easter. There may be some sorrow in our hearts tonight and tomorrow, knowing what you faced. But knowing the joy of Easter, and the commission you have given us to share this great mystery to the world gives us hope and leads us on.

We thank you for the calling you have given to each of us. May we forever be found worthy of your trust in us, for we trust you. Amen.

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