Thanks for coming to Mass tonight, it’s the beginning of a beautiful three day celebration of the central mystery of our faith, namely the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

 

But we start the story tonight with the celebration of the Last Supper which focuses on three things: “the institution of the Holy Eucharist and of the priestly Order, and the commandment of the Lord concerning fraternal charity.”

 

In our first reading we heard the Lord describe the annual celebration of the Passover.  The last verse said, “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

 

Since all generations are to do this, perpetually, I’d like to show this symbolism from the original Passover and how that transfers over to our celebration of the Eucharist today.

 

First, a lamb without blemish is to be the sacrifice, and that is clearly Jesus Christ, the innocent sinless lamb who was slain.  

 

Second, it said, “they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread,” well we eat His flesh under the form of unleavened bread, these little wafers of bread that we use, the hosts, they are unleavened.  

 

Third, it said “They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts,” now at first glance it would seem that we aren’t applying blood to our houses, however, if you consider our body to be the house, a temple, and our mouth to be the primary doorway, our lips serve as the doorposts and we receive Jesus’ blood on them every time we receive communion.

It is important to remember that when we receive the Eucharist under either species we are receiving His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.  Just as it would be impossible to fully separate our blood from our own flesh, so too, whether we receive one or the other or both, we are always fully receiving Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

 

Fourth, the actual “Passover” term, the Lord says, “I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.”

 

So here is where that name Passover comes in right?  “Seeing the blood, I will pass over you” - so it is Jesus’ blood that God sees and while yes, we will all die eventually, by drinking Jesus’ blood throughout our lives we will live for eternity. 

 

The death of Jesus as the unblemished sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins opens the gates of Heaven to us, He has created a new covenant with us. St. Paul explained it in our second reading saying, “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

 

This is why we come as pilgrims to this Mass, the Mass every weekend, some come every day, this memorial feast is celebrated in remembrance of Jesus, and we want, or rather, we need Jesus' blood on us, His blood that saves us.

 

I was watching a Passion play over at Mazzuchelli Catholic Middle School this morning, and I was really struck by a line from the Gospel of Matthew that the students shouted out, after Pilate washes his hands and declares himself innocent of Jesus’ blood, “the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.”” (Matthew 27:25)

That was a prophecy, we are their children, and we need His blood on and in us if we want to Pass Over from Egypt to the Promised Land, from this world to Heaven.

 

The Eucharist, Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, is made present to us through the Priest.  We consider the Last Supper to also be the Institution of the Priestly Order, and this is really why I became a priest, is so that I could bring Jesus to you, to help you “Pass Over.”

 

If this is all true, which I believe to my core that it is, I felt there was no better way for me to live my life than to become a Priest and live my life for you, to help others encounter Jesus in the Sacraments.  I came across a writing by Pope Benedict XVI that I have been reflecting on, he said:

 

Again and again it moves me deeply while distributing Holy Communion when I can say and must say: “The Body of Christ.” When we give people something that is infinitely more than all that I myself am and have. When I can give them much more than I could ever give as a man, when I have the privilege of placing the living God himself onto their hands and into their heart. 

 

And it is an unheard-of thing to be able to say in the sacrament of reconciliation, “I absolve you.”… This is precisely what it means… to give Jesus himself, and to say: “You are free; your guilt does not matter anymore, the burden of your past has been taken from you, you can stand and go your way and can go to God and can leap and sing praise.” 

 

And what an unheard-of thing it is also to have the privilege at the hour of death of giving the anointing that leads to resurrection, to make the resurrection present as the one real answer to death, so that in this hour, too, in which the final earthly lameness occurs, we can say: “Stand up. You will rise, and you will go your way, and you will look into the eyes of your God, and you will praise him, and no one will ever take your freedom from you again.”

 

This is how I feel as a Priest, Pope Benedict has a few years on me and captured it better than I could. The Priesthood is a beautiful gift that I am blessed to be able to take part in.

 

Well, mostly blessed, I’m not the biggest fan of this whole “feet washing” thing.  I could have done without that.  But the Church sees it as “the commandment of the Lord concerning fraternal charity” - that we are to love one another even when it is difficult, to love those who have hurt or betrayed us even.

 

Now, before I say this, I want you to know that I don’t know who is on the list to have their feet washed tonight, except for Titus* and Lydia Kumor, I honestly don’t know who. But, the last two times I have washed feet here, I distinctly remember washing people’s feet who had seriously hurt me, betrayed me in very serious public ways.  So much so that last year, I didn’t even want to wash feet, and instead we just focused on the oils and left the foot washing part out.

 

But, if I am going to be Jesus for you, in Persona Christi in these sacraments, it would follow that I would have to go through what Jesus went through, washing the feet of Judas and Peter, and the nine others that abandoned Him at the cross, and loving them all the way through, welcoming them back when they turned back to Him.  

 

That is fraternal charity, that is brotherly love. God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, but he does allow us to get hurt, and good can come from that. So, we might not always “like” everyone or have warm fuzzy feelings towards them, but we do love them, we must forgive them for how they have hurt us, because Jesus did it, it gives us the strength to have mercy on our brothers and sisters as well.

 

On Tuesday, I renewed my Priestly promises at the Cathedral where I made them less than six years ago.  I am grateful to be your priest, to serve you and to love you, and my primary prayer for you is that you stay close to Jesus in these Sacraments, these beautiful gifts He gives us to encounter and know Him, as we Pass Over from the hurts of this world to the joys of Heaven.