Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper – Homily (2025)

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15
April 17, 2025

Tonight we begin something incredible.  We begin the Easter Triduum.  The word “triduum” means three days.  We celebrate over three days but it is one event that we celebrate.  Each liturgy must be viewed in the context of the others.

Tonight focuses on the Last Supper and the gift of the Eucharist. 

There are people who do not understand our Catholic teaching on the Eucharist.  Misunderstandings of the Eucharist are nothing new.  They are part of what led to the Protestant Reformation.  There are those who think Catholic teaching on the Eucharist is made up by the church.

It is not.  It is biblical.  Speaking of the Eucharistic celebration Paul describes it as what he “received from the Lord.”  What he received from the Lord, he shared with the people.  He provides us with the words used by Jesus, “This is my body that is for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood…Do this in remembrance of me.’

Blood?

Blood signifies a covenant.  To understand the covenant and to understand the Eucharist, we need to take a step back to recall the context in which Jesus instituted the Eucharist.

It was at a Passover supper. 

The Passover stood at the head of the Jewish calendar.  A lamb was sacrificed for the Passover meal.  It had to be the best, a yearling and without blemish.  It was eaten with unleavened bread to remind them of the flight of the Israelites from Egypt.

The Jews celebrated the Passover according to God’s instructions in Exodus 12. 

Jesus took the Passover and raised it to the be the Eucharist.

A lamb is still sacrificed but not any ordinary lamb.  The lamb we sacrifice is Jesus.  He is sacrificed on the Cross for us.  It is his Body given for us on the Cross, his Blood shed for us. 

At the first Passover, God passed over the houses of the Israelites marked with blood.  Now, our own souls are marked with the Blood of Jesus as our sacrificial lamb as God passes by us at the judgment.  We are saved from our sins.

This is what we celebrate in the Eucharist.  We celebrate the Eucharist over and ever with these words of Paul in mind, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”

God called the Passover “a memorial feast…a perpetual institution.”  When the Jews celebrate the Passover, they do not just recall the first Passover.  God makes it present for them in the here and now.

He does the same with the Eucharist for us.  In celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice, we are not just recalling the Sacrifice of Jesus 2,000 years ago on the Cross.  Rather, God makes it present for us in the here and now. 

What we celebrate tonight and at every Mass, is not a new sacrifice.  It is the same sacrifice Jesus offered 2,000 years ago. 

Because the Eucharist is a sacrifice, it requires a priest to preside over it.  So, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, He also instituted the priesthood.  Priests are called to a unique role in presiding over the Sacraments.

To signify their role, priests wear vestments.  The vestments should never lead a priest to pride.  Priesthood is not about receiving elevated status.  Priesthood is a calling for service.

Jesus provides an example of service when He washed the feet of his disciples.  He, the master and teacher, humbled himself to the role of a servant.

In a moment, I will wash the feet of twelve of our parishioners.  They are not here simply as individuals.  These twelve represent all of our parishioners.  As I wash their feet, I do not focus on just them.  I think of all of you whom I serve as your leader.

They have accepted the call to have their feet washed by me as an ordained priest.  I use what God has given me to serve our parishes.

How do you use the gifts God has given you to serve him and his people?