|
Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary-
Homilies |
"'Do You Know What I
Have Done for You?' - Living Eucharistic Love"
Homily for
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper
Fr. Jonathan L. Reardon
21 April 2011
Year A
St. Clare of Assisi had a
powerful experience of the reality of the Eucharist. Clare was a
disciple of St Francis of Assisi. She had founded the first
convent of Poor Clare nuns at the church of San Damiano, just
outside Assisi's city walls. In the year 1240, mercenary armies
hired by the Emperor to conquer Italy were terrorizing the whole
region. As one of these armies approached Assisi, the town
panicked. They had no army of their own, no protection at
all. As the soldiers climbed the small hill towards the city
gates, they had to pass by Clare's convent. Before they arrived,
Clare, who was sick and confined to bed, had herself and her
mattress carried outside and placed on top of the convent wall,
overlooking the road that the soldiers would have to use. She
also had the Eucharist brought out and placed there inside a
small, golden container called a pyx. As the soldiers came into
view, she prostrated herself before the Lord and prayed for
deliverance. The other sisters did the same inside the convent
chapel. The soldiers continued to advance. And then,
mysteriously, cries broke out among them. Some of them drew
their swords and starting attacking each other. Others started
to flee in terror. Soon the entire army was retreating in chaos.
In order to fight off the invasion of evil, St. Clare and her
sister turned to Christ, present in the Eucharist.
On this holy of nights, we
commemorate that moment when Christ, gathered with His Apostles
to celebrate the traditional Jewish feast of Passover, gave to
us the mystery of the Eucharist His very Body and Blood the
sacrifice that would be consummated the next day on Calvary.
Until now the Jewish people celebrated this feast by roasting a
spotless lamb in memory of their liberation from slavery in
Egypt. The sprinkled blood upon the doorposts of their ancestors
saved them from the angel of death. In this sacred action, the
new Passover, Christ Himself is our spotless lamb. The shedding
of His blood is what free us from the slavery of sin and wins
for us the promised inheritance of heaven. On that most
memorable night the night of the Last Supper Jesus gave the
Apostles and their successors (the bishops and priests) the
authority to renew this sacrifice in sacramental form. St. Paul,
in our second reading, reminds us of this command do this in
memory of me. Together with the Eucharist, Christ gave us the
Priesthood the administrators of sacramental life in the
Church. He gave us the priesthood as an extension of Christ
Himself men who would act in His person, to be the face of
Christ and manifest His love in world darkened by hatred and
sin. It is precisely in the Eucharist Christ proves His power
that darkness. In the Eucharist, the light of Christ His
grace, His compassion, His forgiveness, His love and His power
is made manifest to us. This is what St. Clare experienced and
what threw those advancing soldiers into such disarray. His
presence in the Eucharist was too much for them but St. Clare
understood the mystery of His presence in this Blessed
Sacrament.
The question we can ask
ourselves is why
why would Jesus do something so great, so
miraculous for a people who love so little. For that very reason
for love. Charity is the way to follow God most closely,
says St. Thomas Aquinas. We come to understand Christ better
when we are able to practice and live the virtue of charity
for God is Love. This night, in the same way Jesus questioned
His disciples, He questions us: do you realize what I have done
for you? Do we realize the power and love of God that radiates
from this altar? As He shows us His love day after day and
Sunday after Sunday in the Sacrifice of Mass in the mystery of
the Holy Eucharist how have we shown our love for Him? How
have we served Him? I dont just mean in serving our parish or
reaching out to those in need Im talking about how we live,
everyday, how do has this love penetrated to the deepest core of
our being? The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council highlight
this point in the document Gaudium et Spes, no. 38:
This love is not something reserved for important matters,
but must be exercised above all in the ordinary circumstances of
daily life.
Today the Lord invites us to follow this path of
love because it is in this love, in the Eucharist, Christ
fulfills the deepest longing of our hearts the need to be
loved. And that longing is met in the Eucharist. We, therefore,
need to make the Eucharist the central focal point of our lives
in the same way St. Clare did. Making the Eucharist the focal
point of our lives doesn't mean spending all of our time here in
church, though God does call some people to dedicate their lives
in such a way. But for most of us, it means simple things, like
preparing ourselves before Mass begins that we may be reverent
and attentive, receiving Communion regularly and worthily, going
to confession beforehand when necessary. It means trying to get
to Mass more than just on Sundays. It means including Mass and
Holy Communion in birthdays and anniversaries and other special
occasions. It means carving a few minutes out of our busy
schedules to come and sit with the Lord, to drop by and make a
visit to the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle, where
Jesus is always waiting for us to soak up His grace and
experience the power of His love.
As we come to receive Him this evening, let us
embark upon a pilgrimage during these sacred days, a pilgrimage
to Calvary, taking a those first courageous steps toward getting
to know Christ His power and love in the mystery of the
Eucharist.
