Homily for Maundy Thursday

Some of you may remember, or maybe don’t want to remember, the lead-up to the Scottish independence referendum back in 2014.  After all the campaigning, just as it was coming up to the day of decision for the Scottish people, Alex Salmond, who was leader of the Scottish National Party at the time, was asked for his thoughts.  He said something like this:  We’re in the hands of the Scottish people, and that’s a great place to be.  Independence politics aside, no matter how good the Scots are, there’s an even better place, and that’s in the hands of the Lord.

And tonight, that is exactly where things are.  “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.”  Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in control.  All is planned and guided. Later on, it may not entirely seem that way.  But Christ Himself had said, in John 10:17-18:

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.  This charge I have received from my Father.”

It is in this knowledge, that everything is given into His hands, and that He is accomplishing the complete will of His Father, that Christ is able to calmly now do what He set out to do.  He washes the disciples’ feet.  He institutes the Eucharist, and in the process, the priesthood as well.  Then they travel across the Kidron Brook to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ allows Himself to be taken away, tried, and then, tomorrow, put to death.  All is in His hands.

For us, though, things are not completely in our hands or in our control.  God is in charge.  We are not God.  For some people, that last point takes longer to get used to than it does for others.  But we all struggle.  Let’s look at Peter.  First, he thinks he understands things.  He knows the normal routines and customs of the time.  First, he objects to the Lord washing his feet – that is the job of a slave, or of a servant.  After he objects the first time, the Lord encourages him to trust Him, but he doesn’t:  “You shall never wash my feet”.  Then, when the Lord says, if you don’t obey, you will be cutting yourself off from me, then he obeys too much, if you like: “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”  We can easily fly from one extreme to the other, and we can find trusting in the Lord precisely as He says, very challenging, a bit like if He were to say to us:  I’m going to pick you up now and hold you over this large drop – do we trust Him not to drop us?  Or look at Peter walking on the water – to begin with, he trusts, but then he begins to worry and starts to sink.  “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

Peter struggled.  We struggle.  But God still asks for our faith.  This is my Body.  This is my Blood.  Do you believe?  This is the greatest gift I could make to you, of my very self, and my saving sacrifice.  You can imagine Jesus, when He celebrated the Mass for the first time in the Upper Room, not only recognising Himself when He looked at the sacred Host and the contents of the chalice, but also His sacrifice He was to accomplish the following day:  this is my Body, given up for you.  This is my Blood poured out for you.  And with it, comes the institution of the priesthood:  Do this in memory of me.  You can’t, unless you have a priest.  St  John Vianney said you could have all the angels praying as hard as they could, and even Our Lady herself, and they couldn’t make bread and wine become Christ, present with the appearances of bread and wine.  But a priest, no matter how humble or insignificant, can say the words of consecration during Mass, and God – God! – obeys and does as he asks.  But of course, it’s God’s initiative.  He is the One who has given us the priesthood in the first place.  It’s His plan.  And when He calls a man to be a priest, God knows all his imperfections, his sins, all the areas where he needs to grow in ongoing conversion, and certain things that need to be undone, wrong ideas, ways of behaving and so on.  All has to be put into the hands of God.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.”  We can be secure in our faith in Christ’s gift of the Eucharist, His gift of the priesthood, His call to all of us to serve, and our knowledge of the love of God that underpins it all.  God is in control; and that is a wonderful place to be.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk