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The liturgy of Holy Thursday has a very special significance as the memorial of the Last Supper. There is something very touching and moving about this service. Tonight, if ever, we should take an active part in the great drama and not rest content as mere spectators. We should regard ourselves as disciples gathered about the Master in the upper room --- a Master who serves us, washes our feet, speaks to us, and feeds us with his very own Body and Blood, which come to us every day of our lives in the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass by the power of the same priesthood which he entrusted to his apostles and to their successors for the very same purpose. A double strain colors the Mass this evening: one joyous, the other heavy and sad. First, the joyous strain: the altar is adorned, the celebrant wears white vestments, and the Gloria, so long absent during Lent, is solemnly sung and the bells ring out (only to remain silent again until the Easter Vigil). There are only a few days in the Church’s liturgical calendar which touch the heart so deeply, for after the Gloria is concluded, no bell is sounded --- a sign of mourning. Over this blessed celebration which is devoted to the institution of the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and the ordained Priesthood of Jesus Christ, there likewise hangs a veil of deepest sorrow. The Gospel (John 13, 1-5) describes the washing of the feet at the Last Supper. In an act of divine humility, Jesus showed how his commandment (hence, mandatum) of love must be fulfilled by serving others. While the feet of the twelve are being washed, a beautiful hymn (Ubi Caritas) on the love of neighbor is chanted: “Where there is love and fraternal unity, God is present. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear the living God and love him. And with pure hearts be joined to one another...” Breathing the spirit of charity and peace, this song rises spontaneously from the hearts of God’s children, a family now most intimately united by the bonds of divine love. Abstracting from the external ritual, the spirit underlying the act must not be lost. Both proofs of our Lord’s great love proper to this day, namely, the Holy Eucharist and the Foot Washing, come to mind. While it is impossible for us to imitate perfectly Christ in his gift of the Eucharist, we can imitate his example of humble service to others. Such service to others is the sign and expression of our union with him, for which the Eucharist and the Priesthood were established. After Mass, the ciborium with this evening’s consecrated hosts (for tomorrow’s communion service) is taken in solemn procession to a side altar and reposed there. Observing this, the modern-day Catholic reflects: the Bridegroom is taken away and the Church is deserted; however, Christians of former days thought differently, since a procession carrying the remaining Eucharist occurred after every Mass. Although the sacred host is not reserved on the main altar, the Church is never deserted, because Christ remains present in the altar and because the House of God remains the dwelling place of the most blessed Trinity. After the ministers depart the church in silence, the altar is stripped and all other adornments are removed. In ancient times, it was the usual custom to uncover the altar after each Mass, for the altar was regarded as a table set for the sacred banquet, even as tables are covered and set for meals in any home. The altar is a symbol of Christ. From the earliest of times, the stripping of the altar was associated with the crucifixion. The Church stripped of adornment now appears desolate, nor will the holy Sacrifice of the Mass be offered again until the Lord has risen from the grave.
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