Holy Thursday

On Holy Thursday the Church commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his apostles in the upper room the night before his saving passion and death on the cross.  Gathering with the Twelve to eat the Passover meal together, Jesus gives to the Church the sacrament of the Eucharist and the priesthood this night.  "This is my body...this is my blood...Do this in remembrance of me."

 At a bilingual Mass at 7:30 p.m. Blessed Sacrament Parish, Father Killian noted that by instituting the Eucharist and the priesthood together Jesus shows us that he is truly Emmanuel, God with us.  Through the Holy Eucharist, he binds us to himself and to one another.  Both the Eucharist and the priesthood will remain until the end of time when Christ comes again.

"Lord, you who permit us to enjoy in this life the Supper instituted by your Son, grant us to share also the heavenly banquet in your Kingdom, through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Prayer after Communion, Holy Thursday)

Palm Sunday

            Today on Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, the Church celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as he is praised by crowds waving palm branches as they would greet someone who has achieved a political or military victory, yet he is the suffering Servant, the Prince of Peace. Blessed Sacrament parishioners and visitors filled the church for the 5:00 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday, March 31. In the First Reading from Isaiah, we can recognize Jesus as the servant of the Lord who has opened his ears completely to God’s will, Fr. Killian noted in the homily.
           The Gospel reading from Saint Mark highlights how Jesus knew everything that would happen to him, yet he remains undeterred out of love for God the Father and he is confident God is with him. Out of love, humility and obedience, Jesus embraces his Passion in order to bring about the salvation of the world and to show that he loves the Father and has come to do the Father’s will.

"Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 560).

            May we in our lives follow Christ’s model of humility and obedience, trusting in God’s providential plan for our lives, always open to the will of God.