If you’ve ever heard of the counselor by the name of Dr. Gary Chapman, likely you know very well what his name is synonymous with: the five love languages. His central thesis of his entire work is that we express and receive love through five different ways, whether it is words of affirmation, touch, time, gifts, or even acts of service. While we may have different combinations or even preferences for these different “languages” the central tenant remains the same- we are designed to our core to both express and to give love in different ways. It is something that we just simply do from the moment that we are born, and we to greater or lesser degree will do just that from our first moment until our last.
We are just beginning what the Church refers to as the Sacred Paschal Triduum- a series of events that are the greatest mysteries of our redemption. These are powerful expressions, and yet, at their core, they become a message of love, not just in some sort of nondescript way or even a way that we cannot begin to understand, but rather in a way that we can certainly grasp and understand, in real and physical ways.
Today, as we begin the celebration of the Triduum on Holy Thursday, we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The core expression of this Mass is a connection to the Last Supper and that meal that Jesus shares with His Apostles in which He not only celebrates the Passover, but He elevates it into something even more powerful. In fact, this Mass gives emphasis to three particular things that Christ gives to us as a Church, as signs and expressions of love: the gift of the Eucharist, the gift of the priesthood, and the commandment to live in fraternal charity.
If we start at the first reading, from the book of Exodus, we are greeted with a very powerful moment in Israelite history. This particular moment is a moment of deliverance for the Israelite community, because of the plight that they were suffering. The context of this Passover ritual is that the Israelites are still in slavery to Egypt, and God has gone through the land ravaging them with all sorts of different plagues and afflictions, though the Egyptians have remained obstinate. There is one last affliction that is set to occur in the Lord’s mind, and that is death, particularly the death of first-born children throughout the land of Egypt. However, there was one particular mark and sign that would save the families of the Israelites from this scourge- the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of the house. They were to celebrate this new feast of the Passover- and they would share in the lamb, but they would mark the doorpost of the house with blood, so that the spirit that enacted the Lord’s command would pass by those homes and would not afflict them with death, as happened in the homes of the Egyptians.
This, then is not just a celebration for so long ago, but is also a celebration for us today. In fact, we know that we are being given the body of a Lamb- though this Lamb is the Lamb of God- the one who is offering up His Body on the Cross to save us from death, and to truly give us life, and life abundantly. His Blood will be poured out to cleanse us from our sins, and to mark us as well as homes for Him to take up His dwelling. Thus if we are faithful, as the Israelites were faithful, we too can escape the realities of death as well. We are given that very ability by the Body and Blood that we are given in the Lord’s Supper. Thus, the first thing that we celebrate this evening is the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
The second reading this evening comes from Saint Paul and his letter to the Corinthians. This reading, as he is speaking to the church in Corinth, really speaks to the reality of the Eucharist, in a specific way, but then it also transitions as well into the priesthood. Saint Paul speaks during the course of this reading of the need to really consider the need, not only to behold the words that are being spoken here- but also what the words mean. He speaks of how Jesus took bread, and then said “This is my body.” In the same way we also hear the same “this cup… is my Blood.” These are some profound things that occur in the Eucharist, and yet, notice- the invitation to do those things repeatedly. To do them in remembrance of Jesus’s sacrifice- and these are a proclamation of the death of the Lord- indeed they are tied to the Lord’s own Passion, which we celebrate and commemorate tomorrow.
Yet, there is one more detail that we should pick up on at the very beginning- Saint Paul, when he is saying “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.” What he is indicating is his role as a priest who is not only being entrusted with things- but is also handing them on as well! Thus, the priesthood is also a central theme this evening. What’s more, we celebrate this in the midst of the Last Supper, because there is an inherent need for priests for the Eucharist. Without the priest, there can be no Eucharist. Thus, Jesus also institutes the gift of the priesthood that evening as well, and we give thanks to God for this gift.
Finally, this night gives us the opportunity to reflect on the invitation that each of us are given to enact fraternal charity. We read in the Gospel about the washing of feet in the context of that night of the Last Supper. It is a sign, and one that is almost misunderstood, because it is such a controversial sign to them. They see Jesus, their supposed leader and the one that they had come to know as “Master” and “teacher” stooping down and taking the place of a servant in their midst. Even Peter is quite shocked at the Lord’s descending and humbling Himself in this way- so much so that He is afraid to even let Him wash His feet. Yet, there is this need, not only to have his feet washed externally, but also internally as Jesus wishes to bestow a life of grace upon Him in a new and powerful way.
This occasion, as a whole, understandably really seemed to strike them as quite odd, because they felt that it was something that was beneath Jesus’s dignity. Yet, He was showing them, at the very core what this Christian mystery is all about- that they were being sent out to do works of charity for one another. He was doing the greatest work of charity for them by washing them and cleansing them by His Body and His Blood. These are signs of His love- and of His undying charity to them! They might have seen this as a sign of privilege in a certain way- and in a certain way they might think that it might be. Yet, it was a sign not for them to receive only, but for them to distribute as well. They were not to be a people that stood around and looked down upon those who were not of their fold, but they were rather to be a people that looked with love and compassion on one another as they saw that there was a constant call to each of them to be a people at the service of one another.
And, perhaps, my brothers and sisters, that is where we come to our action that we are to understand and to take from this evening. We receive two of the greatest sacraments that we hold within the Church as being powerhouses of grace within our Church. Yet, there could be some misunderstanding as to why. We might think that it makes us automatically superior to one another. We may be able to look down on those around us. Yet, that is not so. Rather we should look to the core of what is being given to us- we are given a commission to receive Christ’s grace, and to be advocates of that grace, especially to those who fall outside the realm and the walls of our Churches.
Really, if we go back to Dr. Gary Chapman, we understand that there are so many different ways to love one another. There are those words of affirmation, touch, time, gifts, or even service. What our Lord gives us tonight is not a string of unrelated things, but ultimately He gives us signs and avenues of His love, not just for us, but for each other, especially those that fall outside of the Body of Christ right here and right now.
Thus, my brothers and sisters, we are starting off the Sacred Paschal Triduum. We are being given tremendous gifts of God’s grace already. Let us therefore take these signs of grace, and start to tell others about them, and about Christ’s grace, not just as we would receive it ourselves, but also as we wish others to partake of this grace as well.
There may be all sorts of signs of God’s love, and all sorts of languages we use to express love, but for tonight, we see it in a powerful way by Jesus’s Body, Blood, Priesthood, and by His Charity that He wishes to place in each of our hearts.
