{"id":2846,"date":"2019-04-18T22:25:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T02:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2846"},"modified":"2019-04-18T22:25:56","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T02:25:56","slug":"holy-thursday-homily-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/holy-thursday-homily-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Thursday Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Holy Thursday<\/a>
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15
April 18, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We began our readings tonight with God\u2019s instructions\nfor the first<\/em><\/strong> Passover.   It is to be celebrated once a year and put at\nthe head of the calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are to sacrifice a \u201cyear-old male..without blemish<\/em>.\u201d  They aren\u2019t supposed to take an old lamb they\ndon\u2019t want anymore.  They are to\nsacrifice a young healthy lamb so it represents a real sacrifice to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is to be \u201cwithout blemish<\/em>\u201d to be a worthy sacrifice, nothing imperfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It involves unleavened bread because they\nwere \u201cin flight<\/em>\u201d from the Egyptians\nand could not wait for the bread to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is called the Passover because, after\nthey had marked their doors with the blood of the sacrifice, the blood served\nas a sign for God to \u201cpass over\u201d that house as He went from house to house,\nkilling the firstborn of the Egyptians but not the Israelites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Passover was celebrated as\nworship to God during the Exodus but it was not to be celebrated just\nonce.  God told them to make it a \u201cmemorial feast<\/em>,\u201d \u201ca perpetual institution<\/em>\u201d to be celebrated on an annual basis.  And so it was.  The first Passover was celebrated in the 16th\ncentury B.C.  The Passover has been celebrated\nmany times since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus himself, faithfully following the\nJewish law, went to the Passover each year. \nWhat we celebrate tonight commemorated the last Passover (the Last\nSupper) that Jesus celebrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This begins our Easter Triduum.  It was no accident that Jesus choose the time\nof the Passover as the hour for which He came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, at the time of the Exodus, God\ntold them to put the Passover at the head of their calendar.  The Passover is central to Jewish identity as\nit commemorates the time when God set his people free from slavery in\nEgypt.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus takes the Passover and makes it\nsomething even greater.  He takes the\nbread and wine used as part of the Passover celebration and makes it his Body\nand Blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s we continue to use unleavened bread\neven today, as a reminder that we continue in a covenantal relationship with\nGod dating back to the Exodus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israelites used the blood of the\nsacrificed lamb at the first Passover to mark their doors as children of\nGod.  We are forever marked as children\nof God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Jews continued the Passover\ncelebration at God\u2019s direction as a \u201cmemorial\nfeast,\u201d \u201ca perpetual institution<\/em>,\u201d we hear Jesus\u2019 words at the Last Supper\nto \u201cDo this in remembrance of me.<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a precept of our faith that we come\nto celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday and Holy Day.  We have daily Mass for those who are\nable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul reminds us that when we celebrate\nMass, we are not just celebrating a Passover meal or the Eucharist in and of\nitself.  Paul writes, \u201cFor as often as you eat this bread and drink\nthe cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\u2019 own words at the Last Supper\ninclude \u201cthis is my body which will be\ngiven up for you\u2026this is my blood shed for you.<\/em>\u201d  Jesus took the Eucharist and united it to his\nsacrifice on the Cross.  Jesus, without\nsin, becomes the unblemished lamb for the sacrifice.  This is what we celebrate in the Eucharist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is so important for us to celebrate\nthe Eucharist weekly, if not daily? \nBecause it is the bread of life. \nIt is the food that strengthens us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It strengthens us for what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eucharist is not something God gives\nus simply for our own needs.  God gives\nus the Eucharist to strengthen us to help one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight is called the \u201cInstitution of the\nEucharist.\u201d  It is also called the\n\u201cInstitution of the Priesthood.\u201d  The\npriest is the one who presides at the Eucharist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do so, as a priest, I received the\nSacrament of Ordination.  I did not\nreceive this Sacrament for my own gain. \nI was ordained not for my own benefit. \nRather I was ordained to serve others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight\u2019s washing of the feet serves as a\nreminder of that.  At the moment, I am\nwearing vestments that signify my role as a priest but in a moment, I will take\nthem off and wash the feet of twelve parishioners as a model of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God gives you the gift of the\nEucharist.  What do you do with the grace\nyou receive in this sacrament?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holy ThursdayExodus 12:1-8, 11-14Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-181 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-15April 18, 2019 We began our readings tonight with God\u2019s instructions for the first Passover.   It is to be celebrated once a year and put at the head of the calendar. They are to sacrifice a \u201cyear-old male..without blemish.\u201d  They aren\u2019t supposed to take an old …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Holy Thursday Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,26,82],"tags":[22,587,170,171],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-JU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2847,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846\/revisions\/2847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}