This is My Body – Maundy Thursday
We begin these three days, the Sacred Triduum, with this
Mass of the Lord’s Supper. As Jesus prepares for this
Passover, He does three things. He shows His humility in
service by asking His Disciples to do the same and doing
the job of a household servant, to wash each others’
feet. As He Himself does this, He establishes the
Priesthood to extend the sacramental benefits of this
mystery through all time. And in an act of Divine power, He
takes bread and wine and declares them to b His Body and
Blood.
He says: “this is my Body.”
The casual observer would say, “no it’s not;
it’s bread.” Even people of faith too often
repeat that denial and re-interpret Jesus’ words by
saying that He meant that only symbolically. Nature, silent
and impersonal, bows to the same Word of God that created
the world in those first silent moments of the start of all
things. Nature hears the supernatural Word and what was is
now something greater. The elements that compose and the
human labor which brought the bread and wine into form
accept what is happening.
So what is happening?
The theological term for this is transubstantiation.
Generations learned this in their catechisms. It is even
mentioned on the Simpson’s. It describes the Divine
action mystically transforming the bread and wine into the
Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
But
why
is another matter.
Jesus could have said something different. He could have
said that this is a reminder or a special souvenir of His
earthly visit. He could have said that this is a powerful
symbol of Himself or even a pathway to grace. But He
doesn’t. He says ‘this is my Body.
He says: that is what I am offering – you get the
whole thing. You are getting tonight what I am giving the
Father tomorrow. A symbol has meaning to the person who
interprets it. This means something more to Me than even to
you. You’ll never fully understand what I am doing,
but you will begin to perceive what I am doing
for
you. And what will happen is going to shake the universe
itself. But if you have trouble understanding what it means
to serve in the simple act of washing feet, how could you
understand the road My feet will walk to Calvary? I know
you can’t; your fallen human nature isn’t big
enough. Despite your noblest aspirations, you’re
limited. What I am doing is beyond your very best efforts
and will eclipse your greatest achievements.
Profound as it is, I am making this simple – simple
but not easy. As your God who is recreating the world by
grace, I am recreating the bread and wine. As a man like
you, I am doing this as you. I am offering you yourself. My
flesh is your flesh; My blood is your blood. And as your
mortal bodies are your greatest chosen value, only that
would suffice as a sacrifice. My body, My life for yours.
You hold a person to their words or their feelings –
even if they change or fail. But the very existence you
know only in and through the body is the only thing you
really believe. You may appreciate another’s good
wishes but when they show up it is the real thing.
So…’this is My Body.’
And I don’t want you to forget it. I don’t want
this to be a nice commemoration. It will just cost too
much. Every time you do this, you will reach back to what I
will offer the Father. And to insure this, I am
establishing you to hand this on through the ages. Through
the Church and her priests, the Body I offer will be given
to all who accept it.
And because I do will it for your sakes, this is my Body.
This Sacrament is My testament and My testimony that grace
is the new standard, not sin. Every sacrifice offered to
God is presented before Him, killed and then eaten by those
who offered it. Since I am offering My humanity for yours,
come and partake of what is offered. Some may think this is
going too far but redemption can be nothing less.
I offer you what you are missing. The very thing of Mine I
give you is received by you whose own bodies are subject to
falling apart. You need redemption in your souls as well as
your bodies. You are not angels who have no flesh. The real
you is everything you are. I am you in order to make you
Me. In giving you My Body, I change your humanity into my
Divinity. By dooming Myself, I free you from the doom of
death. Your flesh will ultimately fail, sicken and finally
die. Mine will not. I give you this so yours will not
suffer this awful consequence of sin.
No, this is my body so yours may be like mine. And when it
is, I will raise it up as Mine will be. On that day, you
will know My glory. On that day you will drink with Me the
new wine in My Father’s kingdom when the lame bodies
of those sickened with sin will leap and dance. You will
see in your flesh the God whose flesh was given this night.
I ask you; I implore you Take this all of you and eat it; this is My Body.