Holy Thursday Homily 2005
In the book of Exodus
we have one of the most fundamental stories of liberation
ever told in human history.
It is a story of redemption,
of God's strong arm acting on behalf of Israel.
It is a story of remembering and forgetting,
of a people rising to the challenge
but also frequently collapsing into whining and complaining
during the long sojourn in the desert.
It is a story that is so rich that it can be reflected on
and retold from countless points of view in Israel's later history.
God's saving action on behalf of Israel
is remembered in the celebration of Passover.
Passover is to be a perpetual institution,
a way to remember God's saving work.
In his instructions to Moses, God says,
"When your children ask you,
'What does this rite of yours mean?'
you shall reply,
'This is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord,
who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt
and delivered us from that house of slavery."'
Standing in this tradition,
Jesus, on the night before he will accomplish
his saving work on the cross,
gives the Eucharist to the Church.
Eucharist is first of all about memory.
Memory creates the context for a sense of thanksgiving and blessing.
Without memory there is no need to give thanks.
Without memory there is no way to trace the work of grace in our lives.
In Eucharist we remember the saving work of Jesus Christ
and the fact that we know it living and active
in our community and in ourselves.
If it is only something that happened two thousand years ago,
then it is just another interesting artifact from history.
Interesting, but hardly life-changing.
Hardly worth doing today.
As he had done so often in his preaching and teaching
in bringing about the reign of God
tonight Jesus prepares the Sacrifice-Meal
that will bring his followers together through all ages.
Eucharist is also a Gospel event because it holds
together in relationship
the gift of Jesus in bread and cup to his followers;
it anticipates the self-emptying that Jesus will accomplish on the Cross;
it proclaims the resurrection of Jesus and his final coming.
Split any one of these events away from Eucharist
and its meaning collapses.
Likewise, Eucharist and footwashing are two faces of the same coin.
If we understand footwashing and its meaning in our time
it will take us to Eucharist.
If we understand Eucharist and its meaning for our time
it will take us to footwashing.
Last October Pope John Paul II
invited the whole Church to spend a year reflecting
on the mystery and saving power of Eucharist.
On this occasion we might well ask ourselves some questions:
What do I need to learn, to study,
to better appreciate this mystery?
What do I need to let go of
in order to give myself fully and completely to Jesus Christ,
to be in communion with Christ in the sacrament?
What do I need to forgive in myself and in others
to be truly renewed as a member of the Body of Christ?
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
March 24, 2005
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