|
 |
|
Homilies are posted no later than during the week
prior to the Sunday they are needed |
|
|
Holy Thursday
|
Back in the Neanderthal days of television, there
was a
program titled "You Were There." The object was to place viewers in the
midst of a historical incident. Thus they could imagine they were
witnessing the celebrated event. Let's attempt something of the sort
with the Last Supper. There you were - the thirteenth apostle.
It was a wet spring that year of 33. It was Thursday. The
Passover celebration was on everybody's mind. You were as anxious as
anybody else to commemorate the mighty Moses.
Attendance at the dinner with Jesus as your host was by
invitation only. You were anxious to look your best. You had bought a
new designer toga. You resolved to be as quiet as a church mouse. You
asked His mother Mary whether you should bring a gift. She answered
with a smile, "All He wants is yourself."
The dinner was held at 6 PM in a borrowed banquet hall.
You were warned that Jesus was a stickler for promptness. Later on,
historians would call the hall the Upper Room. You would reflect that
your Leader had been forced to borrow so many things - the vermin
filled cave in Bethlehem, the donkey several days before, this shabby
catering hall, and finally even His tomb. Life was not fair even to the
Son of God.
You enjoyed the fact Mary had taken the pains to place
vases of anemones all about. She had picked them in the fields about
Jerusalem. They gave elegance to the drab room. You recalled how Jesus
loved fresh flowers.
You were moved by the girl softly playing her harp as mood
music in the corner. The apostle on your left said she was the child
Jesus had raised from the dead.
You looked around the table that night at your noisy
friends.The apostleswere anticipating a sumptuous supper.
Nor did you fault them. They had been eating bad food on the road and
had been running from cops for months. They appeared exhausted and
painfully thin. You wondered if they could stomach rich food.
The Nazarene looked introspective. His guests were having
no luck in drawing Him out. You assumed He was tired after His teaching
in the Temple these past several days. He had to rest His voice. He did
sound hoarse. You suspected He had much lecturing to do in the days
ahead.
The meal opened. The Master gave to each of you some
unleavened bread dipped in a hot red sauce called haroseth. It was
delicious. You asked for seconds despite your fear ofcalories.
He complied with a good-natured smile.
Then the first of the four cups of wine was served. Since
Palestinian wine was strong, it was cut with water. You had no desire
to make a fool of yourself and become giddy. You drank sparingly.
Then sips of salt water were drunk in memory of the bitter
tears shed by your ancestors in Egypt. Peter shouted, "I prefer the
wine." Jesus shot him a sharp look. He was not amused by the humor of
His CEO.
Peter got his wish. There was a second cup of wine.
Shortly thereafter the main course of roast lamb, drowned
with aromatic herbs, was placed on the table. It was medium
well done - just the way you liked it. More wine was served.
It had been a delightful meal. The Talmud had been accurate when
it labeled the Passover meal as delectable as the
olive.Finally, in a soft voice, you heard
Jesus call for attention. Unnecessarily, the flushed Peter rapped his
tankard with a large set of keys. The Teacher was holding pieces of
bread He had broken in a clay dish. He said to all, "Take you and eat.
This is my body." Then He placed small fragments in each of your hands.
Then over the wine,He whispered, "This is my blood." The cup of
the Precious Blood was passed from one to the other.
You were puzzled, and hurt too, when the Christ said to
all, "Do this in memory of me." It was as though He was pleading to be
remembered by His guests. How could anyone forget Him? Wasn't He what
everyone there wanted to be in his life? As you were to realize later,
this had been the night of your First Communion. You wish you could
have gotten a certificate signed by Him.
You were not completely surprised by the Eucharist that
night. You recalled the promise of the Eucharist the Nazarene had made
a year previously. It had occurred after He fed five thousand people
with a few loaves and fish.
The meal was done. You followed Jesus out of the room. He
did not appear too happy. You wondered what was on His mind. You
noticed that He had eaten little. You thought He knew something about
tomorrow you did not.
Once again you are back in the present. In today's
Liturgy, you will receive the Eucharist. Take care. This is not a TV
dinner. Rather, this is six star gourmet dining at its best. It is a
heavenly meal.
|
|
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Holy Thursday
|
|
|
Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Holy Thursday |
Readings (all cycles): Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26;
John 13: 1-15
"The Law of the Gift"
Introduction
A hero of modern times is Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965). He was an
accomplished organist and a noted theologian. But, he’s best known as
Dr. Schweitzer, the missionary doctor of Lambarene, in the country of
Gabon. With his own money and gifts from friends, Albert Schweitzer
built and equipped a hospital to care for people in Africa who had no
access to medical treatment.
One day this famous medical missionary came to the University of
Chicago as a guest lecturer. While being welcomed at the train station,
Albert Schweitzer noticed a frail, elderly lady dragging her luggage
across the platform. Just as his host called him to the microphone, Dr.
Schweitzer walked away, pushed his way through the crowd, and asked the
lady if she would allow him to help carry her luggage.
After he helped the elderly lady, Albert Schweitzer returned to the
microphone, and said, "We are put on this earth to help each other,
especially those who are weak and frail. All the honors in the world
mean nothing if we fail to care for the least of these."1
Duty and Obligation
In John’s gospel, we hear of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
In those days, everyone wore sandals. Walking over unpaved, dusty
roads, feet got very dirty very quick. As an act of hospitality, a
household servant would kneel before guests, to wash and dry their
feet. For the guests, a washing of their feet was refreshing. For the
household servant, it was a duty to perform.
Before we go on, let’s be clear about one thing: the servant washing a
guest’s feet does not give us a model of Christian service. It is not
Christian service to do our duty. Think about work. Jobs have job
descriptions. To keep our jobs, as employees we do what the job
description says to do. A salesperson is expected to know the
merchandise, to present the item for sale in an attractive manner, to
be pleasant to the customer. A postal worker, to sort the mail and
deliver it to the correct address. An architect, to design functional,
pleasing buildings. A soldier, to follow orders.
We do our duty, we perform as the job description requires, and in
return we get paid for our time and efforts. We would not even think of
our job as doing Christian service.
Even within the family. A parent’s duty is to feed the baby, change its
diapers, give it a warm place to sleep. The son or daughter, a duty to
help with household chores, to complete homework.
What we do for our job, what we do for our family, these are not
Christian service. Do our duties with cheer, be pleasant, then we do
our duties with Christian attitudes. But, these are obligations, duties
to be performed.
"The Law of the Gift"
When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, Christ offered a gift, a
gift of himself. Jesus had no obligation to wash the feet of the
disciples. Servants had that duty. No, when Jesus washed the feet of
his disciples, his was a self-gift based on friendship. A model of
service, freely choosing to serve his disciples out of love. Jesus gave
an example of serving which expected nothing in return.
That’s Christian service. Here’s an extreme example from everyday life.
A father and his two children loved mountain climbing. They delighted
in the bright sunlight and the camaraderie. Well experienced as a
climbing team, each knew they could count on the other.
Then, one day as they inched their way along a mountain’s face, terror
struck. A piton (pee-tahn) failed for the top climber. He hammered
another metal brace into the rock, but it could not hold all three
climbers very long. The combined weight of three climbers was too much
for the metal pin.
The father, the bottom climber, made a decision. He instructed the
second climber to cut the rope, to let him fall. That’s Christian
service, to sacrifice one’s self so that others might be safe. A gift
of self, given with love.
Pope John Paul II talked about "the law of the gift." That Pope told us
the law of the gift is written into our hearts. An echo of the self
giving love found in the interior life of God. Following the urges of
the law of the gift, we enter into communion with God, an intimacy with
the Holy Trinity.
Christ showed us the law of the gift by giving his life for us, even
for those who deny him and betray him. As people of faith, we often
give Christian service, we live out the law of the gift. Our ministers
to the sick take communion and our love and concern to the sick and
homebound. Each week, volunteers for St. Vincent de Paul sort the food
you bring and food bought at Second Harvest with your donations, and
distribute this food to the needy of our community. Our teenagers, as a
service project, paint houses and do cleaning for those needing a
helping hand.
All kinds of ways Christians obey the law of the gift written within
our hearts. A sixth grade class collects money to buy freedom for young
children being sold into slavery in a foreign country. A classmate
walks home after school with someone who seems lonely. Grandparents go
the hospital pediatrics floor, and spend an hour or two rocking babies.
When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, Christ gave a new twist to
the idea of service, the idea of gift of self, with no expectation of
anything in return. Giving out of love. Jesus gave us a new model of
serve, Christian service, living the law of the gift written in our
hearts.
Conclusion
At the Last Supper, Christ fed his disciples with his Body and Blood
and Jesus showed us how to serve. He took a towel, a basin of water,
and washed his disciples' feet.
At each Mass, Christ feeds us with his Body and Blood. With the Blood
of Christ flowing in our views, we are to imitate Christ. We are to
live the law of the gift, to serve as we have been served.
As your pastor, I now take a towel, a basin of water, and I will wash
your feet. As you watch me, as the Blood of Christ flows in your veins,
please ponder ways you do or ways you can serve others. |
|
|
|
These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
