Homily for Holy Thursday 2005, John 13, "The Eucharist"

 

In the gospel reading today, we are told that “Jesus loves those who were his in the world and he loved them to the end!”  And one of the most visible signs of that love that he had for us was the tremendous gifts he left behind at that Passover supper that we remember every time we say the mass, and in a special way when we say the mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday night.

 

The mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday is a very special occasion, because it commemorates the institution of the Eucharist as a sacrament in the church and it also commemorates the institution of the priesthood within our church.  The Eucharist is one of the absolutely key parts of our faith and something that it is very worthwhile to spend some time reflecting on this evening.

 

In the eleven years since I was ordained to the Diaconate, I have been asked by many people in both of the parishes that I've been stationed in, to preach about how to receive holy communion.  Probably more accurately I've been asked to “lecture” people about how to receive holy communion by others who are upset by what they see in our general behavior and are looking for someone to do a little bit of “bawling out.”  It's hard for me to say to these people, but - I don't do lectures, not the “bawling out” kind anyway.

 

So although this evening when we talk about the institution of the holy Eucharist, it might seem like the good time to talk about our practices around holy communion, there is one problem.  I asked myself, “Who comes to mass on Holy Thursday night?”  We only have to look around the church to see that although there are about 1600 families registered at St. Mary’s there are only a few hundred of us here tonight.  And I think it's safe to say that those who have made a special effort to come out for the beginning of these holy three days at Easter, our Easter Triduum, are those who already have a special place in their heart for the Eucharist, a special understanding of the importance of giving it the reverence it deserves.  Certainly not people who need a lecture!

 

I mean, when I used to talk to the children who are about to partake in their first holy communion about how to receive the host, I would always try to keep it simple, not oppressive.  I would just remind them of the analogy of holding up a plate, with one hand being the plate and the other hand used to feed yourself, and if you went up to the dinner table you wouldn't grab the plate and march away and eat while walking, unless you were at McDonald's, but rather receive the Eucharist in your hand and place the host in your mouth first before walking away – the children understand that – don’t leave the table ‘til you’ve finished! 

 

And we can use that one brief moment of pause to give Christ some special undivided attention.  So many of us grownups are in such a hurry, we let the social conventions of somehow feeling that it would be the wrong thing to do if held up the line for even a second, that we literally receive the Eucharist on the run.  We’re not really in that much of a rush!

 

Remember, the catechism of the Catholic Church has 15 full pages dedicated to the Eucharist with almost a 100 individual paragraph elements to discuss it.  None of these individual elements deal with the outward reception of communion but rather focus on the importance of our internal preparation and the results of receiving communion that should be there in us to be seen by everyone else our entire community by the way we behave, by our charitable works, by our sacrifices for others. 

 

And so in the end, these external trappings – bow, genuflect, mouth, hand – these are not the most important part, it is what is in our hearts when we receive the Lord that He is looking at.  The rest of us can try to look after ourselves and not worry about looking at others. 

All each one of us can do is to the best we can, and when we have finished receiving the host, perhaps we can look away from others and pay attention to what's going on inside ourselves, to leave the judgmental thoughts behind, and use that moment with the Lord to thank him for his special Holy Thursday gifts.

 

After all, the word Eucharist means Thanksgiving, thanking Jesus for loving his disciples to the end.

 

The Eucharist as we understand it today is more than just Thanksgiving, it has a threefold meaning, one of Thanksgiving, one of a sacrificial memorial, and one of the real presence of Jesus.

 

We understand the Thanksgiving, and it is easy to understand that we are creating a memorial - remembering the sacrifice Christ made for us on the Cross because Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me!”  As Jesus showed us in the Gospel today, having a share with Him means being ready to sacrifice for others, even as he showed his disciples by taking the lowest job in the whole house on by washing their feet. 

 

He sacrificed his pride to serve.  And so remembering Christ’s sacrifice is meant to inspire us to sacrifice for others, even at the expense of our pride, when we have received him in the Eucharist.  If our behaviour doesn’t change with Christ in us, then the Eucharist has not borne fruit as it should!

 

Finally we believe in the real presence of Jesus, in a miraculous and mysterious way, that sees the bread and wine change into His real Body and Blood.  This is not a change we can measure and detect with our senses, but our faith tells us it is real because Jesus told us it was so. “This is my Body!  This is my Blood!”

 

This is why tonight, after Mass, many of us will remain in the church, sharing the vigil with Christ himself, adoring and worshipping His real presence with us in the Tabernacle, sharing the experience of his disciples more than 2000 years later.

 

In order to receive communion, the catechism also describes what it means to be in full communion with the church, understanding all three of these meanings.  And it also refers to the attitudes and changes that have taken place in the other Christian churches that were started in the Reformation, those churches that we refer to as Protestants. 

 

It is interesting that the Protestant churches have redefined a number of the elements of our faith including reducing the number of sacraments.  But virtually every Christian faith believes in at least two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist.  Even those churches who celebrate the Lord’s Supper only once a year as a symbolic gesture and who don’t believe that Jesus is present in the Body still believe in the sacramental giving of grace through the Holy Spirit when the Lord’s Supper is done in memory of Christ as he commanded.  It is sincerely a shame that there are differences between the ways our churches look at this wonderful sacrament and that something which is meant to pull us altogether becomes something that divides us instead.

 

Our Church teaches that in order to fruitfully receive the Eucharist, for it to have an effect, there must be three conditions met.  First, that the person receiving communion must be properly disposed to receive it and be free from mortal sin.  Secondly, the person receiving communion must believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the species of the bread and wine and finally the person receiving communion with us, must believe all that is taught by our Roman Catholic church. 

This is why if any of these conditions is missing, we do not believe that the practice can be true Eucharist as we understand it, and so although it may seem that we are missing a chance to bring our Christian churches together by receiving the Eucharist together, we must really pray that we can be united in our understanding first to create the one community we hope to share.  Nowadays, we hope that our Church is not exclusive, but strive to find ways to include of all those who would like to find Christ.

 

And so tonight, when we give thanks and when we remember as we read the gospel that Jesus loved his disciples to the end, let us give thanks for the Eucharist, for the Priesthood, let us remember the Last Supper as He commanded, let us glory in the presence of the real Lord who we did not see walking on the earth but nonetheless is here, really here with us tonight, and then we will remember that He did not just love His disciples to the end two thousand years ago, but He loves us to the end right here, right now.

 

- Deacon Steve