Homily for Holy Thursday - April 14, 2022

 

Homily for Holy Thursday

April 14, 2022

Self-Gift

 

            A few years ago, I had the privilege of leading a father-son pilgrimage to Rome. The youngest kid to come with us was a 13-year-old named Daniel, who is one of the most sincere followers of Jesus I’ve ever met. During the trip, Daniel came down with severe illness – migraines, throwing up, exhaustion, the whole nine yards. It was really rough. One afternoon he was feeling so lousy that he stayed back in our hotel with a chaperone while the rest of us went to say Mass over the tomb of St. Claire. Right after Mass, I wanted to hasten back to the hotel to check on Daniel, so I gathered up all of my Mass items – vestments, Mass kit, books for Mass – and the pile was bulging as I walked into the hotel.

            I came into the room and saw Daniel just lying on the couch, completely wiped out. I said to him, “My gosh, Daniel, how are you feeling?”

            He looked at me and said, “I feel terrible…do you need help carrying that?”

            Here was someone in his sickness, at his lowest point, not thinking of himself but thinking of others. And so it is with Jesus.

            There are times when it is enjoyable to do service. I’ve been on many service trips with teens where we paint houses and work in soup kitchens, and it’s really rewarding and fun to hang out with friends and serve others. But to serve others when it costs something – that is true self-giving love.

            Consider Jesus. He is an hour away from His arrest, on the eve of His torture and crucifixion – and He knows this. His mind must have been occupied with anxiety and fear. This would be the time when He would need comfort, when He should be looking to His Apostles for a kind word or for them to serve Him. The rest of us would be thinking about ourselves at this moment – but instead, He takes off his cloak and thinks only of His Apostles.

            Both of the events that this night celebrate have the same core: self-gift. We see His self-gift in His service, and we see His ultimate self-gift in giving His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. This is truly the Feast of Self-Gift.

            John Paul II often defined love as “self-gift”. It is giving of oneself when it costs, but in doing so, we find what we were made for. John Paul II once said, “Man can only find himself in a sincere gift of himself.” The entire point of Jesus’ earthly life was to give of Himself – in service, in the Eucharist, and ultimately on the Cross. The entire point of our earthly lives is to give of ourselves – to God in sacrifice, to others in service. And in laying down our lives, we find what life is truly all about.

            Jesus tells us that He did this act of service so that we would have an example to follow. So let us resolve to follow His example and give when it costs. Pray when it is difficult. Do chores around the home when we’d rather be on our phones. Smile at someone we’d rather not smile at. Don’t give the poor your surplus, but make a real sacrifice for them. Follow Christ no matter what the cost.

            Mother Teresa summed it up best when she said, “I have found the paradox: when we love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, only more love.”