Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday – Last Supper Mass – the Day of the Eucharist and the Day of Priests.

Last Supper – the institution of two Sacraments: the HOLY EUCHARIST – the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and the PRIESTHOOD, the Sacrament in service of the Eucharist.

Two Sacraments …. two mysteries of faith.

How can a piece of bread contain God, the Creator of the Universe?

How can to the ordinary man be granted such a power, to transform the bread into the Body of Christ? And yet … this is exactly what Jesus did during the Last Supper.

Lk 22:19 – “Then he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and                          gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in                              remembrance of me.”

What is the primary purpose and task of a priest? What is his ultimate vocation? The answer we can find in the life and mission of Christ. So what was the primary reason of the incarnation of the second Person if the Holy Trinity?

- Was it the healing of the sick?

- Was it the feeding of the hungry?

- Was it the social justice work?

- Or was it maybe the making His disciples feel good?

I think it was none of the above!'!!

He, the High Priest was the Priest for two reasons, which finally come to the only one:

- the GLORY OF GOD and the SALVATION OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD!

John 4:34 – “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his                               work.”

John 17:3 – “And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus                            Christ whom you have sent.”

John 18:37 – “Jesus answering Pilate said, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was                  born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the                           truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.”

Mt 28:19 – “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name                               of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

So Glory of God and sanctification of the members of Christ's Church.

2Tim 4:1 nn – “Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living                                 and the dead, I charge you, in the name of his appearing and of his                                     kingdom, proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist                                   on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, give encouragement -- but do                              all with patience and with care to instruct.”

It will be a betrayal to anything else. Like searching popularity, luxury, easy life, career etc.

The Founder of my Society of the Divine Saviour left us the Salvatorians the words of our vocation: “As long as there is one person in the world who doesn’t know and love Jesus Christ you cannot rest. Preach Jesus Christ with all means dictated by the love of God and love of your brothers and sisters.”

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Parish in communistic Russia, since 1918 no priest for almost 90 years …

Church turned or transformed in to kolkhoz’s storage facility …

After three generations of prayers they got a priest … and parishioners prayed for the priest …

·        Lord Jesus Christ, the only One and Eternal Priest,

we thank You for sending us Your priest;

Your servant whom You chose and appointed to be among us.

He is the minister of Your mysteries,

and the pastor for our community.

We ask You to give him faithfulness and perseverance in Your holy service

and to give us a living faith in knowing that You sent him to us

and instituted him as our pastor and spiritual guide.

Help us to understand that his first and primary obligation

is to help us to become saints.

This is the ultimate reason that You sent him to our community.

·        Give him a spirit of wisdom and good council.

Give him the strength of fatherly love.

Give him the courage to tell us the truth,

You're the Truth and we have to know the TRUTH, to be free,

Give him the courage and perseverance to teach us the ultimate TRUTH

and not to compromise Your Good News for the sake of popularity.

And give us the gift of acceptance, respect and caring,

so that we can attentively listen to his word and trust that

he is preaching Your Good News,

even if it seems sometimes awkward and challenging,

Even if our ears are itching ...

·        You chose him from among us and for us,

a man who sometimes falls down because of his own weaknesses,

but also who has to deal with our weaknesses and sins.

Give us both patience and mutual understanding.

Give him health and patience in his difficult work and responsibilities.

·        May he be for us a good Pastor,

May he be for us a good and truthful Teacher,

May he be for us a strong and courageous Prophet,

who guides us to Heaven,

where You our Eternal Pastor are waiting for us;

in the Kingdom of Your Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Alternative homily

The shortest homily of Jesus - very difficult lesson of humility

“Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.

So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, “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.”

Do you realize what the very meaning of Christ’s message is?

Do you know what does it mean to love somebody to the end?

In comparison to this all other songs, poetries, and the whole “literature of love” is simple rubbish.

During the very first Mass Jesus have had the shortest and the most touching homily. He washed the feet of His disciples and gave them His body to eat and His blood to drink.

Let me repeat the same homily now …

(washing of the feet)