111. Holy Thursday (III)

Meditations no. 157 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Christ’s “madness of love” in the Holy Eucharist.

In speaking to priests and laymen who have meditated so often on the scene of Maundy Thursday, I could say that what I’m going to do is like selling honey to a bee-keeper. But since you are my children, I have the right to speak to you with authority. Therefore we have to take special care that the event we commemorate today does not slip right past us without penetrating into our souls.

You will often have started meditating on the Holy Eucharist, my child, by using the Gospel texts which remind us of Christ’s humility, Peter’s faith, and John’s love.

Christ’s humility: Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum antequam patiar; I have ardently desired to eat this lamb, to celebrate this Passover with you, before my Passion.

Peter’s faith: We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God; ratified by our Lord: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.

The love of John, who rests his head on our Lord’s breast. Jesus says to them: Mandatum novum do vobis: ut diligatis invicem; a new commandment I give you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end…

Et, accepto pane, gratias egit et fregit et dedit eis dicens: Hoc est corpus meum; he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body. I have often helped you consider this marvellous reaction of human love: two people who love one another, when they have to part, exchange some photographs with a dedication so full of affection, so aflame, that it is almost a wonder that the words don’t burn the paper. It’s the same with Jesus, who loves us to the end: he has to go and, at the same time, he wants to stay. But what we are not able to do, God can do: he goes and he stays. He institutes the Holy Eucharist so that we may eat him, so that we will be strengthened, so that we will be faithful and come to perfect union with him …

Even though I have reminded you of the reasons why Jesus has wanted to remain among us, I can also say that I don’t understand why he stayed, knowing how he was going to be treated: knowing not only that many tabernacles would be neglected, but also that there would be many people approaching him who do not know him, who do not love him or who ignore him, who do not appreciate him or who mistreat him. But in spite of all this, Jesus truly stayed in the Holy Eucharist, with his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. And he stayed for you and for me.

Love is repaid with love! Think about how you genuflect before the tabernacle, about your visits to the Blessed Sacrament, how you think of him when you pass close to a tabernacle, with thoughts that should be more ardent every time. Love is repaid with love!

The Mass: responding to God’s love.

We may have asked ourselves, at one time or another, how we can respond to the greatness of God’s love. We may have wanted to see a programme for Christian living clearly explained. The answer is easy, and it is within the reach of all the faithful: to participate lovingly in the Holy Mass, to learn to deepen our personal relationship with God in the sacrifice that summarizes all that Christ asks of us.

Let me remind you of what you have seen on so many occasions: the succession of prayers and actions as they unfold before our eyes at Mass. As we follow them, step by step, our Lord may show us aspects of our lives in which each one of us must improve, vices we must conquer, and the kind of brotherly attitude we should develop with regard to all men.

The priest draws near to the altar of God, of God who gives joy to our youth. The Holy Mass begins with a song of joy, because God is here. It is the joy that is shown, together with love and gratitude, as the priest kisses the altar, symbol of Christ and reminder of the saints - a small surface, sanctified because this is where the sacrament of infinite worth is made present to us.

The Confiteor (I confess… ) makes us aware of our unworthiness; not an abstract reminder of guilt, but the actual presence of our sins and weaknesses. This is why we repeat: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison: Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. If the forgiveness we need had to be won by our own merits, we would only be capable of a bitter sadness. But, because of God’s goodness, forgiveness comes from his mercy, and we praise him - Gloria! - for you alone are the Holy One, you alone are Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

We now listen to the word of Scripture, the Epistle and the Gospel - light from the Holy Spirit, who speaks through human voices so as to make our intellect come to know and contemplate, to strengthen our will and make our desire for action effective. And because we are one people, gathered together in the unity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we recite the Creed, affirming the unity of our faith …

May this offering be effective for the salvation of all men - Orate, fratres (Pray, brethren… ), the priest invites the people to pray - because this sacrifice is yours and mine, it is the sacrifice of the whole Church. Pray, brethren, although there may not be many present, although materially there may be only one person there, although the celebrant may find himself alone; because every Mass is a universal sacrifice, the redemption of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Through the Communion of the Saints, all Christians receive grace from every Mass that is celebrated, regardless of whether there is an attendance of thousands of persons, or whether it is only a boy with his mind on other things who is there to serve. In either case, heaven and earth join with the angels of the Lord to sing: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus… (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord… )

I adore and praise with the angels - it is not difficult, because I know that, as I celebrate the Holy Mass, they surround me, adoring the Blessed Trinity. And I know that in some way the Blessed Virgin is there, because of her intimate relationship with the most Blessed Trinity and because she is the Mother of Christ, perfect God and perfect man. Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary most holy, not through the intervention of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit alone. In his veins runs the blood of his Mother, the blood that is offered in the sacrifice of the redemption, on Calvary and in the Mass.

Eucharistic liturgy, centre of the Holy Mass.

We begin the first Eucharistic Prayer with the confidence of children of God, calling him our most loving Father: clementissime. We pray for the Church and for all those who are a part of the Church - the Pope, our families, our friends and companions. And a Catholic, with his heart open to all men, will pray for all men, because no one can be excluded from his love. We ask God to hear our prayers. We call on the memory of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary and of a handful of men who were among the first to follow Christ and to die for him, and we recall our union with them.

Quam oblationem… (Bless and approve our offering… ) The moment of the consecration draws near. Now, in the Mass, it is Christ who acts again, through the priest: This is my body… This is the cup of my blood. Jesus is with us! The transubstantiation is a renewal of the miracle of God’s infinite love. When that moment takes place again today, let us tell our Lord, without any need for words, that nothing will be able to separate us from him; that, as he puts himself into our hands, defenceless, under the fragile appearances of bread and wine, he has made us his willing slaves. Praesta meae menti de te vivere, et te illi semper dulce sapere: make me live always through you, and taste the sweetness of your love.

More prayers, because we human beings almost always feel the need to ask for things - prayers for our deceased brothers and sisters, for ourselves. We have brought all our weaknesses, our lack of faithfulness. The weight is heavy, but he wants to bear it for us and with us. The Canon ends with another invocation to the Blessed Trinity: Per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in ipso… : Through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, who is all our love, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.

Jesus is the way, the mediator. In him are all things; outside of him is nothing. In Christ, taught by him, we dare to call God “Our Father” - he is the Almighty who created heaven and earth, and he is a loving Father who waits for us to come back to him again and again, as the story of the prodigal son repeats itself in our lives.

Ecce Agnus Dei… (This is the Lamb of God… ) Domine, non sum dignus… (Lord, I am not worthy… ) We are going to receive our Lord. On this earth, when we receive an important person, we bring out the best - lights, music, formal dress. How should we prepare to receive Christ into our soul? Have we ever thought about how we would behave if we could only receive him once in a lifetime?

When I was a child, frequent Communion was still not a widespread practice. I remember how people used to prepare to go to Communion. Everything had to be just right, body and soul: the best clothes, hair well-combed - even physical cleanliness was important - maybe even a few drops of cologne… These were manifestations of love, full of finesse and refinement, on the part of manly souls who knew how to repay Love with love.

With Christ in our soul, we end the Holy Mass. The blessing of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit accompanies us all day long, as we go about our simple, normal task of making holy all honest human activity.

As you attend Mass, you will learn to deepen your friendship with each one of the three divine Persons: the Father who begets the Son; the Son, begotten by the Father; the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. When we approach any one of the divine Persons, we approach the one God. And when we come close to all three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - again we come into the presence of the one true God. Love the Mass, my children, love the Mass. And be hungry to receive our Lord in Communion, although you may be cold inside, although your emotions may not correspond to your desires. Receive Communion with faith, with hope, with burning charity.

Let us ask our Lady to teach us to live each day’s Mass with the sentiments of humility and adoration with which she received her Son Jesus Christ.