By Msgr. Joseph P. Calise
ABOUT 15 YEARS ago, while I was still rector-principal at Cathedral Prep, I received the invitation to preach at the Holy Thursday liturgy being celebrated in a local monastery.
As much as I enjoyed the liturgies at the Prep, we encouraged our seminarians to be involved in their parishes during Holy Week and celebrated only the Easter Vigil together. So the opportunity to be with a congregation for Holy Thursday was welcome. Since I did not have parish obligations elsewhere and had already been involved at the monastery through the Matt Talbot Retreat movement, I was happy to accept the invitation.
As I met with the director, he explained that their celebration was a bit more involved than that to which I might have been accustomed. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper was to be preceded by a Seder meal.
I thought it was odd that a Catholic retreat house would invite a congregation to celebrate a Jewish tradition. After all, the Holy Thursday liturgy is very much the fulfillment of the Seder. Jesus fills the place saved for Elijah. This is certainly operative in today’s Gospel passage. The disciples ask Jesus, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover supper for you?”
In the context of this meal, a celebration of freedom from slavery, Jesus institutes the Eucharist and then proceeds to the Garden of Gethsemane and enters into His Passion. He takes the Seder cup – reserved for Elijah – and drinks it. In doing so, he takes upon Himself the suffering of His people and transforms it into the freedom of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of resurrection. So why would a Catholic retreat house want to begin a Holy Thursday liturgy by emptying the seat Jesus filled?
Struggling and Suffering
Sadly, the answer is found in our newspapers and on our televisions; in our radio announcements and all over the Internet. Every day, we hear of people who are struggling to find meaning in their lives because they have not yet come to know Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise. Every day we hear of people who are suffering because others want to deny them the free practice of their faith. Every day we hear of evil being enacted in the name of God as if somehow the destruction of what He created would bring Him pleasure.
Advertisements tell us that happiness can be found in food, money, sex, drugs, clothing, cars and the multitude of displays of wealth. Yet, the facts tell us that celebrities who have all those things are often unhappy, some to the point of suicide, if that is all they have.
The world today is desperately in need of the message of the Last Supper, celebrated in today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The message is simple: Christ is present among us, His Cross opened the Gates of Heaven for us and that must be proclaimed
Present Among Us
Within the Eucharistic Prayer, we hear a command that is not found in the Scripture passage from St. Mark’s Gospel. As familiar as the words are, St. Mark does not include Jesus saying, “Do this in memory of Me.” But by the reception of the Eucharist, by the awareness that the host is Jesus present among us, those of us who open our lives to this presence are compelled to reach out to those who still search. We are compelled to let the seekers know that Elijah’s seat has been filled and that the sufferings of this world are not without purpose if they’re united to the Cross of Christ.
We who come to the table to celebrate the love of Christ made visible are challenged to make that love visible to those who search.
Readings for the Solemnity Of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Exodus 24: 3-8
Psalm 116: 12-13, 15-16,
17-18
Hebrews 9: 11-15
Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
Msgr. Joseph P. Calise is the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, Williamsburg.
