Homily: Holy Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Holy Thursday (Jn. 13:1-15) “Don’t Look.  Eat and Drink.”

        Holy Thursday is packed with religious significance. Tonight, we have so much that we ponder that it is hard to know what to emphasize. 

We recall the beginnings of the Eucharist. We consider the roots of the priesthood. We witness the reenactment of the washing of the feet which challenges us to be involved in unselfish service. We think about the arrest of Jesus in the Garden Gethsemane.  The signs, the symbols, the sounds are overwhelming. We can take any one aspect of this liturgy and have enough to meditate on for the whole Triduum.

        Every time we walk into church the next three days we notice how things are different.  One thing that is different is the empty tabernacle. The doors are left open. The sanctuary light is out.  The Eucharist is gone. What is this supposed to mean?  We could say that the empty tabernacle symbolizes something different for each day of the Triduum.  Someone once said that a older Catholic church without the reserved sacrament is just an oddly decorated room.  But this stark symbol makes us think.

        Tonight, it teaches us about the true nature of the Eucharist.  The empty tabernacle redirects our attention to the altar. We can celebrate the Eucharist without the sacrament reserved in the tabernacle.  The Eucharistic action is what we build our life around.  In the rubrics for Mass, it says that a presiding priest must eat and drink the Eucharist consecrated at the Mass he is celebrating. If the priest were to leave the Eucharist on the altar at communion and go to the tabernacle to communicate himself the Mass wouldn’t be recognized. The priest only completes the Eucharistic action when he consumes the Eucharistic species consecrated at the Mass he is celebrating.  A concelebrating priest who partakes of a host from the reserved sacrament at Mass, the Mass he says is illicit.  The church teaches that it is most proper for all the faithful to receive the Eucharist consecrated at the Mass they are attending. 

        Instruction #85 of the Roman missal states: “It is most desirable that the faithful, just as the Priest himself is bound to do, receive the Lord’s Body from hosts consecrated at the same Mass and that, in the cases where this is foreseen, they partake of the chalice, so that even by means of the signs communion may stand out more clearly as a participation in the sacrifice actually being celebrated.” The church makes it clear tonight that Jesus said, “Take and eat. Take and drink.”  The empty tabernacle challenges us to participate, not to watch, the Eucharist.

        Tomorrow through Saturday night the tabernacle remains empty which reminds us of something different. We are reminded of Jesus’ death.  If Jesus’ death was like every other human death, it would have been the end of his story. He was in the tomb for three days.  He was surely dead. His ministry was in limbo from Friday night to early Sunday morning.  For that reason, we don’t celebrate Mass from tonight until Easter.  Silence reigns in our churches, music is minimal, bells are not rung, as we contemplate Jesus in the tomb.  We consecrate enough hosts for communion tomorrow. But what if there was never another Mass celebrated after tonight? The hosts would run out. The Eucharist, then, wouldn’t be the sign that Jesus is with us. He is alive.

        We do believe that on the third day Jesus conquered the grave.  He came back from the dead.  What is the first thing that he did with his apostles.  He broke bread with the Apostles in the upper room. He shared the Eucharist on the road to Emaus.  He celebrated Eucharist with them on the seashore.  And from that first Easter to now the Eucharistic miracle continues.

        So let us ponder the empty tabernacle tonight realizing the great gift that we have in Sacrament of the Eucharistic.  Jesus lives.  Every time Eucharist happens it reassures us. We remember Jesus died but that it wasn’t the end of the story.

  Reflection:

Have I ever pondered the empty tabernacle?  What does it mean to me?

What ritual or symbol is most meaningful to me on Holy Thursday?  Why?

Dear Parishioners,

        Remember that tomorrow’s Good Friday Service is at 3 p.m.  This is not a Holy Day of obligation, but it is one of the most sacred days on the liturgical calendar.  Also remember to fast and abstain tomorrow.  It is a good day to refrain from unnecessary activity. 

        Jesus died so that we may live for all eternity.  Let’s prayerfully contemplate that truth.

        May Our Lady of Sorrows pray for us,

        Fr. Mark