Homily for Holy Thursday 2026
April 2, 2026
Sacrament of Charity and Humility
The
Eucharist is often called the Sacrament of Charity, but it can also be called
the Sacrament of Humility. Both of these virtues are on display on this night,
in two different but complementary ways.
First,
we see both virtues in the washing of the feet. It says in the Gospel that
Jesus “set aside” his garments and wrapped Himself in a towel – this is a
symbol of the Incarnation: when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity took off
His Heavenly glory and instead took on human flesh, the vesture of a servant.
But this humility was motivated by charity – He did all this out of love for
us: a desire to be with us, not just during His thirty-three years on earth but
ultimately His desire to be with us for eternity.
But the
Holy Eucharist is even more humility, even deeper charity. In giving Himself to
us, He has made Himself vulnerable. God puts Himself at our mercy. The priest holds
Him in his hands; we have the power to do whatever we want to God! What
humility! He even accepts insults and blasphemies, being received by wicked
souls in mortal sin, because His love keeps Him here in the Eucharist.
Throughout
centuries, there have been many instances of the Eucharist being mocked or
trampled upon, and yet Our Lord endures these insults with patient humility.
For example, back in the 11th Century in Trani, Italy, there was an
unbelieving woman whose friends kept urging her to go to church. One day, out
of curiosity, she went to church with them, and came forward to receive Holy
Communion, but instead of swallowing, she took the Host from her mouth and hid
it in a handkerchief. When she arrived home, she wanted to prove to herself
that it was just bread, so she placed the Eucharistic Host in a pan of hot oil
on her stove, intending to fry it. Instantly, the Host started to bleed…and
bleed copiously, so that the blood flowed over the pan and onto the floor. The
woman was shocked and summoned the priest, who then took the Host back to the
church where it has been kept until this day. Our Lord’s humility in allowing
Himself to be treated in such a manner!
But this
humility, too, is motivated by charity. Charity isn’t just about doing good
deeds; it’s a gift-of-self to the other. To give oneself as food means that
this Divine Person burns with a desire to love us, to be constantly with us!
What a radical, even crazy, act of love – to say, “I want to be consumed by
you!” As St. Therese of Lisieux said, “Do you realize that Jesus is there in
the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to
come into your heart!” It is love that causes Him to humble Himself.
And so,
we see that these two virtues on display this night are also the calling of
every Christian. St. Augustine once wrote, “If you should ask me what are the
ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is
humility, and the third is humility.” One of the more beautiful friendships in
history is that of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two of the
early Church fathers who were also roommates at school. Gregory recounts that despite
the fact that they were both excellent students who tried to outdo each other
with good grades, their greatest rivalry was that of humility – they constantly
tried to praise each other and take the lowest place themselves, to see who
could serve the other one more humbly. Gregory writes, “Our rivalry consisted,
not in seeking the first place for oneself but in yielding it to the other, for
we each looked on the other’s success as his own.” What a beautiful and holy
rivalry, to excel in humility!
But
humility is not for its own sake but for the sake of charity. St. John Paul II
said, “Man can only find himself in a sincere gift of himself.” In the late
1800s, there was a talented young woman in Ireland named Catherine McAuley, who
found herself single, alone, and out of a job. A compassionate wealthy couple
hired her to manage their estate, as a personal assistant – and they grew to
love her as a daughter. When they passed away, the left a huge fortune to Catherine.
She knew she wanted to use it for good, so she started to give it away…but she felt
like something was lacking. She soon realized that God didn’t want her to give
away the money – He wanted her to give away her life to Him. She
gathered some women around her and founded the Sisters of Mercy, known as the “walking
nuns” because they walked through the city taking care of the poor, destitute,
sick, and orphans. It wasn’t enough for her to just do good deeds – charity
demanded that she give of herself, in imitation of Christ, Who didn’t just do nice
things for us – He gave us His very self.
These
two virtues are inseparable – it’s very easy to boast about our works of charity,
so we need humility to realize that all the good we do is simply because of God’s
goodness. And we need charity to motivate our humility – we are able to take
the lowest place and assume the role of a servant precisely because we wish to
make ourselves a gift to others, out of love.
The
washing of feet, the giving of the Eucharist. Both witness to the cornerstone
virtues of the Christian life – humility and charity, which make us like
Christ.
