April 09, 2009 Holy (Maundy) Thursday Ex. 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Jn. 13:1-15 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/040909.shtml               ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Jesus used his last moments with his inner core of followers to profound effect. He knew he was about to die. He knew they would have trouble going on without him. So he knew he had to leave them with words that would sustain them.   “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. … This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”   By following these instructions after he was gone, the disciples could keep Jesus among them - by recollecting, by recalling him to their presence. As they ate his body and his blood, his life itself, they became the love that Jesus was and is. Those who would accept his mission and live into his vision would become the Body of Christ in the world he was leaving behind.   Eat the Body of Christ. Drink the blood of the holy one whose self-sacrifice made you the most special and valuable beings in creation, by making us all worth dying for. Be ever connected with him. Be ever aware of God’s presence with you and God’s love for you. Do not be afraid to risk living, really living, as the reality of Jesus that is in you gives you courage and strength and comfort in the midst of this often troublesome world of ours. In this spiritual food we gain spiritual and emotional energy to sustain us on our way.   Take the body of Christ. Become the Body of Christ. Become love in unity with all others through the love of Jesus. At the moment of receiving the sacraments alongside our fellow Christians, we are one. We are united with one another in all our intentions and with all our focus as we recall Jesus among us. We are at total peace with one another and all of humanity in this special, holy moment.   Jesus gives us a more specific understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ. As the bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus, fills us up, it overflows from us onto others in the form of loving actions. Jesus got down on the ground before the disciples and washed their feet as a way to lead them into actions of love for others. To be the Body of Christ, he says, reach out with your resources to serve others as I am serving you.   To respond to this call is to face the challenge of becoming the very Body of Christ, loving others as Jesus loved us.     <<   Previous: Palm Sunday  | Next: Good Friday >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)