9 April 2020
Holy Thursday
In midst of coronavirus outbreak, practically every Catholic is trapped in their home. This phenomenon is not something new in the history of God’s people. Recall the experience of the people of Israel in Egypt. God told them to stay at home and pray especially during the time when God said, “ I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn in the land, human being and beast alike, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt.” Biblical Scholars have debated about who actually did kill the firstborn of Egypt. Some say the Angel of God, some say a unique plague, and some even say God Himself. Regardless who the primary agent is, the Israelites were trapped in their homes. They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days and follow the ritual that prescribed by God. By staying at home and following God’s instruction, the Israelites celebrated the Passover of the Lord, which is their Salvation.
Fast forward to the time of Jesus. Jesus lived in a society that was under constant fear and threat from the Roman colonial power. Consequently, people could never meet each other freely in public. Often times, they had to meet in their homes secretly. Thus, in his lifetime, Jesus was only present to a relatively small group of men and women in Palestine. Through Eucharist Jesus was able to accomplish two things: first, Jesus is now able to be present to all men and women throughout the world. Through Eucharist, Jesus offers himself to us as our friend. Second, he establishes a new community in which people can build friendships without fear.
Today, we celebrate Holy Thursday. We remember Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist. During the last supper, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Eucharist, which is the feast of friendship. First, let us remember that during the last supper Jesus said to his disciples that “I no longer call you servants…Instead, I have called you friends (John 15:15).” So here Jesus offers a new friendship. A late British Dominican theologian, Herbert McCabe, had a theory that Jesus died because he wants to be friends with us (McCabe, God Matters). By being our friends, Jesus puts no barriers, no defense against those he loves or even those who hate him. He chooses to be a friend for the world which is structured by violence and fear. Thus, Jesus was destroyed by the Roman colonial power and the religious establishment in Palestine.
The Eucharist is a sign of our friendship with Christ because Christ is present through the Eucharist precisely as the sign of His desire to have an intimate friendship with us. The irony is that 70% of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. If we do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the question is whether we really want to have an intimate friendship with Christ. We might say yes, but if we want to have an intimate friendship with Christ, how can we build a friendship with Christ who is not present among us? Do we believe that Christ’s presence is in the tabernacle? Well, if we do not believe in the real presence during the mass, how can we believe Christ will be present in Tabernacle? Let us pray to understand how Christ is really present in the Eucharist.
In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the Eucharist is different than the potluck dinners that various religious groups and associations celebrated. Such gatherings usually included the ritual of pouring drinks to the deities or patrons of the association. However, the Eucharist includes a commemorative sharing of the bread and the cup that proclaims the Lord’s Death. The Eucharist is indeed the feast of friendship, but the Corinthians, like we modern Catholics who struggle to believe in the real presence, merely consider friendship as a fun time to get intoxicated. St. Paul reminds all of us that the Eucharist is not this kind of friendship. The Eucharist is about friendship under the shadow of the cross that involves blood, torture, and death. Thus, Paul urges the Corinthians to examine themselves before they partake of the ritual of sharing the bread and the cup. Those who drink the blood of Christ and receive the body of Christ without any respect, will bring judgment upon themselves.
Jesus said, “I have called you friends.” Reflect on this verse and ponder what friendship with Christ means in the midst the corona virus outbreak. As we hunker down with family and loved ones, like the Israelite community during the Passover, we can see that our salvation is also coming about. As we have been deprived from receiving the Eucharist, let us prepare ourselves to partake in the sacrament. When the time comes, we can be all the more joyful and ready for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Finally, let us look back at the whole story and listen to Jesus calling us his friends. How does it feel to be called a friend? What can we say to our friend who asks us to remember Him in the partaking of His body and blood?