Thursday, April 5, 2012

O Holy Night

Holy Thursday. What is Holy Thursday? It's the day marking the leading up to of the Easter Vigil. It is a day where Catholics celebrate not only the Eucharist, but Christ's priesthood, His last supper with His disciples, along with celebration of the Passover. The Last Supper was also Christ's farewell to His assembled disciples, some of whom would betray, desert or deny Him before the sun rose again.

John 13:14-17 14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 "Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

The Catholic faith still practices this on Holy Thursday. The Priest has 12 individuals in which he washes their feet, just as Jesus told us to do. After, we are all invited to do the same and do for others as Jesus does for us. At this 'Chrism Mass' the Priest also blesses the oil of the Chrism used for Baptism and Confirmation.

"The action of the Church on this night also witnesses to the Church's esteem for Christ's Body present in the consecrated Host in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, carried in solemn procession to the flower-bedecked Altar of Repose, where it will remain 'entombed' until the communion service on Good Friday. No Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil proclaims the Resurrection.

And finally, there is the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by the people during the night, just as the disciples stayed with the Lord during His agony on the Mount of Olives before the betrayal by Judas."

The above information is so profound to me. As our Priest wrapped up the body of Christ, and processed out of the church tonight, holding it almost like a casket, I wept. The procession followed, the church sang a solemn song, flowers were carried out following the procession. So many emotions overcame me. There's the emotional side for obvious reasons of being pregnant. There's emotions for the sheer thought of what Jesus has done for us and how we all strive to be Christ like. There's the hunger of wanting to partake in the Eucharist so badly to have that little piece of Heaven a part of my life. And then there's the utter sad side of me. That remembers Ainslee's procession, the way our Priest was so reverent to her body. How he blessed her with holy water. How he used incense to show his respect for her. He did this just in the way he would for Jesus. I love our Priest so much. He is the most reverent man, so caring, and I absolutely love him. He means a lot to me. He baptized Adrian, Ainslee, and soon to be Hadlee. He did Ainslee's funeral mass. And he will be welcoming me into the Catholic church on Saturday night, giving me my first Eucharist. He was there when Ainslee died. He blessed her as she laid lifeless in my arms and prayed over her. He means a lot to me.

I left church tonight overwhelmed with emotion for many reasons. What a holy night and what a start to this Easter weekend.



2 comments:

  1. Maundy Thursday is a very special evening in Holy Week. In our Episcopal church, the children of our parish read the lessons, were eucharistic ministers of the chalice and washed feet tonight. It was so very moving, especially since I had my year-old grandson with me. His feet were washed by an adorable 4-year-old friend who was so gentle and sweet. They shared a hug of joy afterward.

    The funereal aspect of the service is profound. My nephew, Luc, died during Lent five years ago. He was alive for 31 months, but due to being born with brain cancer never LIVED until he reached Heaven. It took me so long to accept his life and death. With God's amazing grace I understand none of the sorrow was willed upon us, but His love allowed our family to survive.

    May your Easter season be joyous as you are received into the Catholic communion. God bless you with peace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The reverence and love you have for the Savior is very apparent in this post. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing it, as it strengthened my own feelings.

    ReplyDelete