Homily for Holy Thursday 2019
Introduction
Today we celebrate the Last Will and Testament of Jesus. Why do we make a last will and testament? I can think of three reasons.
- A last will might stop your kids fighting over your property.
- A last will might stop the State of Louisiana deciding what happens to your hard-earned money.
- But most importantly, a last will ensures that your wishes are carried out even when you are no longer here.
And since I have your attention, let me put in a plug for the parish and for the Church in Uganda, for you to remember them in your last will and testament.
Scripture and Theology
Jesus also left us a last will and a testament, but one that was quite very different from ours. As St. Paul tells us, the Lord Jesus, “became poor although he was rich” (2 Cor. 8:9) and so he had nothing material to leave behind. But the Lord had something much more valuable; salvation, life with God in heaven for eternity. And so his last will left instructions for us, about how to share in it.
Tonight, on Holy Thursday, we remember in a special way, the two instructions he left for us his brothers and sisters, his friends, which show us the way to the Father: the service of the Eucharist and the service of our Neighbour.
St. Paul writing to the Corinthians as we heard in today’s second reading summarized for us this first instruction from the Lord’s will. As we know Paul was not present at the Last Supper; but he was told:
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.”
St. Paul went on to add:
In the same way [he] also [took] 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.”
With these words Jesus very clearly stated how he wanted to be remembered by his followers: they were to take, bless and eat bread and drink from the cup, which are his real body and his blood. And so when we come to Mass, we are doing nothing but fulfilling the last will and testament of our Lord and Master.
But why does Jesus want us to do this? St. Paul tells us why, saying, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” In other words the bread and wine we drink are not mere bread and mere wine. They are the Body and Blood of Jesus given in death on the cross for our salvation. When we celebrate the Eucharist, eat his body and drink his blood, we also share in his sacrifice which brings us to salvation.
You see, we human beings are kind of dumb; yes, I said we are dumb. We are not as smart as the angels, who have the ability to know God directly. We human beings need reminders, tangible signs and symbols to help us understand and appreciate spiritual things. That is why our liturgy is full of signs and symbols of the divine things; or as some put it, the bells, yells and smells. But most important of all, we have the very Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Even the people of Israel needed such a reminder of the salvation God had given them when he freed them from Egypt. We heard in the First Reading that on the night before they were to leave Egypt, they too ate a Last Supper, consisting of a lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This meal was supposed to symbolize their passage from slavery to freedom that was to begin the next day. And God commanded them to celebrate this meal, the Passover, every year, so that all generations would experience in a real way, the saving work of God for them.
We Christians are far more fortunate. In this meal that the Lord has left for us in his will, he himself is present under the form of bread and wine. It is like he never left us; he is still here with us every time we celebrate the Eucharist. And because he is with us in the Eucharist, he puts us on the sure path to salvation.
But the Eucharist is not enough. On that same night, Jesus left in his will a second instruction, an equally important means of getting to heaven, which is service of neighbour. We heard how Jesus removed his outer garments and washed the feet of his disciples, despite the loud protestations of Peter. And then Jesus concluded:
“Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Just like he said of the bread and wine, “do this in remembrance of me,” now Jesus says about service: “as I have done for you, you should also do.”
As Christians we are therefore called upon, not only to come to the service of worship, but also to perform the service of neighbour, especially the poor and needy. At the end of Mass, the priest or deacon dismisses us saying: "Go and announce the gospel of the Lord" or "Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life." These words tell us that after we have fulfilled the first instruction of Jesus’ last will by coming to Mass, we must go and fulfil the second instruction of the will by announcing the gospel and glorifying the Lord by our life.
We fulfil this second instruction, by washing the feet of whoever needs us, whenever and wherever they are.
- Washing the feet of others is something we do as we go about our daily lives. Spouses literally and figuratively wash the feet of each other; parents literally and figuratively wash the feet of their children when they are young, and the children return the favour when their parents are elderly. We also do that for grandparents, siblings and relatives.
- Even at work, as we do our jobs, if we do them well, we are washing the feet of our clients, subordinates and bosses. For when we do our jobs in a spirit of service, aren't we doing as Jesus did, aren't we remembering him?
- But mostly we wash the feet of those who have nobody else to wash their feet, particularly through the seven corporal works of mercy and the seven spiritual works of mercy. In attending to the bodily and spiritual needs of the poor, the elderly, the sick, prisoners, the hungry, the thirsty, we are caring for those who appear to be beneath us and outside our circles, like Jesus himself who despite being Lord and Master, washed the feet of his disciples and students.
Christian Life and Conclusion
My dear friends, we all take seriously the dying words of our parents and dear friends; we try honour the letter and spirit of their Last Will and Testament on pain of being haunted by them from the other side. How much more seriously should we take the dying words of our Lord, who implores us to carry out two forms of service: the Eucharist and neighbour, lest he too haunt us!
But the real reason we carry out both forms of service, the service of worship and service of neighbour, is more profound. As tomorrow's celebration of Good Friday will show us, the Eucharist and Service of Neighbour are only signs of the real thing, the profound love which Jesus showed on the Cross. They are the means by which we continue making present that Love displayed on the Cross. Are we faithfully executing the Last Will and Testament of Jesus in our lives?
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