1 April 2021
Holy Thursday
The liturgical of Holy Thursday has often served as an occasion for establishing an emphasis on certain aspects of the revelation of Christ. Some use the liturgy to call attention to the nature of the priesthood, while others see the institution of the Eucharist as the principal historical event of Holy Thursday, while others see the washing of the feet as the sign of the universal priesthood of all believers. Today’s liturgy, when properly understood, draws in all three of these realities and sees them as inseparable actions of the Church. Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic Constitution on the Church from the Second Vatican council stated that:
Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ. The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches, and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity.
The realities of Holy Thursday recall the foundational characteristics of our faith. There are roles with shared identities and a common purpose of making Christ present to ourselves and the world in which we live. As we celebrate this Holy Thursday we continue to pray with Jesus “that they all may be one,” a unity achieved by complimentary ministries in the service of that same Lord present in a special way in the Blessed Sacrament.