Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday. If you're like me, it's just another looooong mass-actually, almost twice as long, because bilingual masses are held as one. It may seem unnecessary, or boring. Does it seem like it' s repeating everything you already know? Well....yep, that about sums up how I generally felt about all Easter weekend masses-long, boring, and pointless. But this year, I've grown an unbelievable amount in my faith-and last night, it hit me that I don't know everything about this faith, nor will I ever know. And that is why it's so beautiful. Especially what happened Holy Thursday.

The Eucharist. That's what I want to write about. I've always known it's His body and blood, and that He gave it up for us. I guess I just never really knew what all that entailed. The night before He died, he washed the apostles' feet. The creator of the universe washed the feet of the ones He had created in His image! He invoked the priesthood-something that, to me, is one of the more awesome parts of this faith, and something that should be thought about more and honored by everyone. He washed their feet so that when they carried on His works, they would do it as clean men. Then, He did something none of us can understand completely-nor should we try. While He was still alive, He gave up Himself back to us in the form of His own body and blood. Yes, we know He died a very painful death and suffered greatly on the cross to pay for our sins. But that's preached everywhere-even non-christians know that. What makes this night my new favorite is that He gave HIMSELF. Literally-not giving of Himself in prayer, service, or miracles,but really giving His body back to us each time a priest (with newly cleaned feet) consecrated a measly piece of bread and a cup of wine. He allows Himself to be received by all, and brought into this life again on a daily basis. He suffered through terrifying thoughts of what would happen tommorrow, to prepare a better life for us today. Imagine you've gotten sick, and the doctor says you won't make it past tommorrow night. What would you do? Go home, visit with your family and friends, reflect on the good things in your life, and try to end it peacefully? Because that's what a lot of us would do. But He knew what was going to happen to Him-He even knew that some of those "priests" He had put into place would soon deny Him. Yet He continued to give of Himself-and more importantly, to give of His father-until His very last breath. The one thing that stuck in my mind solid from all of the Holy Thursday readings was this, and I want you to think about it honestly. Consider it, reflect on it, and, next time you chat with Him, say thank you. Because this is what He's asking us daily:

"Do you realize what I've done for you?" John 13:12

Let's show Him we know what He's done for us but he way we live our lives.