Holy Thursday Homily
Tonight we remember. We begin to remember that Love is stronger than death. We remember this not just as something that happened 2,000 years ago in Jesus, but as something that IS happening to us, in us, right now on this Holy Night.
The death, that Love is stronger than, is not just our physical death, but all the deaths we endure in loving service of our neighbors. St. Paul said, in his letter to the Galatians: “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” To experience this Divine Union in our lives requires a constant death to self so that we may rise in Christ and Christ rise in us. The steps to this new life are remembered, and hopefully made our own, in the three acts of our Triduum service that we begin tonight.
Tonight’s action is humble service. I know it is awkward, and you feel a little self-conscience but imagine what it was like for those at the Last Supper. Dirty, sweaty, smelly feet; and since no one else would do the task, Jesus bends down and washes everyone’s feet. This action tells us that Jesus loves us down to our toes, and that we must love each other in the same way.
Tonight we need to remember that this table is not just for us gathered here. All are welcome to the Table of the Lord, all; who suffer unjust laws that seek to discriminate against LGBT community, blacks, Hispanics, all who are coming to our shores seeking a fuller life; all who suffer from our pet peeves and prejudices, all who suffer from our family spats and arguments, all of us who suffer from illnesses and disabilities, who suffer from not feeling not good enough or worthy enough; all are welcome here to the table of the Lord. Jesus asks: “do you realize what I just did for you?” We washed each others feet in humble acceptance and welcome, so we do whenever we welcome , without reservation, someone into our lives, or into our community of faith. Tonight we remember and we do for others what Jesus did for us.
Tonight we gather around the Table of the Lord, to do what Jesus told us to do in His memory. We gather in because we need each other. We gather in for support in our weaknesses, and to share our strength with those who feel they can’t go on. Together in Christ we are more than we can possibly dream of or imagine. We need each other so we can face the darknesses that will inevitably will come.
We end our evening tonight in silence at the Altar of Repose, as we anticipate the deep darkness and emptiness of Good Friday. It is in the deep darkness of Good Friday that God speaks to us in the silence, for God’s first Word was silence. It is in the deep darkness of the tomb that all the good stuff happens, and brings forth Easter joy, Yhere may be bunnies and Easter eggs but without the tomb there is no real joy and lasting joy.
The death, that Love is stronger than, is not just our physical death, but all the deaths we endure in loving service of our neighbors. St. Paul said, in his letter to the Galatians: “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” To experience this Divine Union in our lives requires a constant death to self so that we may rise in Christ and Christ rise in us. The steps to this new life are remembered, and hopefully made our own, in the three acts of our Triduum service that we begin tonight.
Tonight’s action is humble service. I know it is awkward, and you feel a little self-conscience but imagine what it was like for those at the Last Supper. Dirty, sweaty, smelly feet; and since no one else would do the task, Jesus bends down and washes everyone’s feet. This action tells us that Jesus loves us down to our toes, and that we must love each other in the same way.
Tonight we need to remember that this table is not just for us gathered here. All are welcome to the Table of the Lord, all; who suffer unjust laws that seek to discriminate against LGBT community, blacks, Hispanics, all who are coming to our shores seeking a fuller life; all who suffer from our pet peeves and prejudices, all who suffer from our family spats and arguments, all of us who suffer from illnesses and disabilities, who suffer from not feeling not good enough or worthy enough; all are welcome here to the table of the Lord. Jesus asks: “do you realize what I just did for you?” We washed each others feet in humble acceptance and welcome, so we do whenever we welcome , without reservation, someone into our lives, or into our community of faith. Tonight we remember and we do for others what Jesus did for us.
Tonight we gather around the Table of the Lord, to do what Jesus told us to do in His memory. We gather in because we need each other. We gather in for support in our weaknesses, and to share our strength with those who feel they can’t go on. Together in Christ we are more than we can possibly dream of or imagine. We need each other so we can face the darknesses that will inevitably will come.
We end our evening tonight in silence at the Altar of Repose, as we anticipate the deep darkness and emptiness of Good Friday. It is in the deep darkness of Good Friday that God speaks to us in the silence, for God’s first Word was silence. It is in the deep darkness of the tomb that all the good stuff happens, and brings forth Easter joy, Yhere may be bunnies and Easter eggs but without the tomb there is no real joy and lasting joy.
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