Brothers and sisters, today we begin our celebration of the Paschal Triduum of our Lord, the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. These are the central mysteries of our faith. And tonight, we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and we commemorate the institution by our Lord of the sacrament of the Eucharist. People also call this Maundy Thursday – bakit? “Maundy” comes from “mandatum,” meaning command, because it was also during the last supper that Jesus gave us, his disciples, a new commandment, and command that will define who we are as God’s people – the command: “Love one another as I have loved you.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus reminds us: “By this the world will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Dito kayo makikila na mga alagad ko sa pamamagitan ng pagmamahal ninyo sa isa’t isa.
Tonight also we will witness the washing of the feet of the apostles. Bakit tuwing Holy Week meyron tayo nito? What does this mean? The washing of the feet is not a re-enactment, a dramatization of what Jesus did; rather the Lord is telling us something very important: our love for one another must be expressed above all in serving one another. To truly love as Jesus loves, we must learn to serve, we must learn to give ourselves to others in service.
The greatest act of service, the greatest act of love that Jesus did was to give himself to us here in the Eucharist. If you love someone, you always want to remain with that person you love. Di ba? That’s why it’s so hard to say goodbye to someone you love – you don’t want to be separated from them. Jesus loves us so much that he gave himself to us here in the Eucharist that he may forever be with us. Sabi po niya: “I will be with you always until the end of time.” Here in the Eucharist he fulfills that promise. Sabi niya: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Isn’t that what happens when we receive him in Holy Communion?
The Mass is the Lord’s greatest gift to us. My friends, if somebody gives you a gift, of course you value it. Binibigyan mo ng halaga – otherwise walang saysay yong gift na yon. The Mass is Jesus’ greatest gift to us. Here he gives us no less than his very self – "This is my body, given for you… This is my blood.. poured out for you.” Perhaps the question Jesus is posing to us tonight is this: “My child, binigyan mo ba ng halaga ang handog na ito sa buhay mo?”
Mahalaga ba para sa yo, para sa iyong pamilya ang Sunday Mass? How do you value our Sunday Mass in your family. Is it a priority for you on Sundays?
It is from the Mass that we draw life from Christ – apart from it we cannot grow. There is no substitute for it – not Bible sharing, not prayer meetings, etc. The mass contains in itself the entire treasure of the Church, not gold, not silver, not our beautiful cathedrals – but the mass. Because the mass and the sacrifice on the cross are one and the same. No wonder then that it is the center, the source, and the summit of our Christian lives.
“As the day of Resurrection, Sunday is not only the remembrance of a past event: it is a celebration of the living presence of the Risen Lord in the midst of his own people. For this presence to be properly proclaimed and lived, it is not enough that the disciples of Christ pray individually and commemorate the death and Resurrection of Christ inwardly, in the secrecy of their hearts. (…) It is important that they come together to express fully the very identity of the Church, the ekklesia, the assembly called together by the Risen Lord” (John Paul II, Dies Domini, n. 31).
No comments:
Post a Comment