B16's Holy Thursday

Pope Benedict XVI had some wonderful thoughts in his homilies for the Chrism Mass and for the Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper.  I thought that I would share with you some of the quotes that really impacted me.

From the homily for the Chrism Mass

"I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian, said Saint Ignatius of Antioch."

"Through this first anointing [with the Oil of Catechumens], which takes place even prior to baptism, our gaze is turned towards people who are journeying towards Christ - people who are searching for faith, searching for God."

" . . . God himself is searching for us."

"Driven by love, God has set out towards us."

"God is searching for me.  Do I want to recognize him?  Do I want to be known by him, found by him?  God loves us.  He comes to meet the unrest of our hearts, the unrest of our questioning and seeking, with the unrest of his own heart, which leads him to accomplish the ultimate for us.  That restlessness for God, that journeying towards him, so as to know and love him better, must not be extinguished in us."

"Let us remain constantly on a journey towards him, longing for him, always open to receive new knowledge and love!"

"The proclamation of God's Kingdom, of God's unlimited goodness, must first of all bring healing to broken hearts."

"Christians are a priestly people for the world.  Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him."

"We have reason to cry out at this time to God: 'Do not allow us to become a "non-people"!  Make us recognize you again!  Truly, you have anointed us with your love, you have poured out your Holy Spirit upon us.  Grant that the power of your Spirit may become newly effective in us, so that we may bear joyful witness to your message!'"

"With great gratitude for the vocation [to the priesthood] and with humility for all our shortcomings, we renew at this hour our 'yes' to the Lord's call: yes, I want to be intimately united to the Lord Jesus, driven on by the love of Christ.  Amen."

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From the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

"Jesus desires us, he awaits us.  But what about ourselves?  Do we really desire him?  Are we anxious to meet him?  Do we desire to encounter him, to become one with him, to receive the gifts he offers us in the Holy Eucharist?  Or are we indifferent, distracted, busy about other things?"

"Eucharistic communion requires faith, but faith requires love; otherwise, even as faith, it is dead."

"Yet at his final meal, more than anything else, Jesus prayed."

"Jesus turns his suffering into prayer, into an offering to the Father for the sake of mankind."

"The ultimate purpose of Eucharistic transformation is our own transformation in communion with Christ.  The Eucharist is directed to the new man, the new world, which can only come about from God, through the ministry of God's Servant."

"All of us eat the one bread and receive the one Body of the Lord; this means he opens each of us up to something above and beyond us.  He makes all of us one.  The Eucharist is the mystery of the profound closeness and communion of each individual with the Lord and, at the same time, of visible union between all.  The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity.  It reaches the very mystery of the Trinity and thus creates visible unity.  Let me say it again: it is an extremely personal encounter with the Lord and yet never simply an act of individual piety."

" . . . unity is something utterly concrete, it has names.  In this way unity becomes visible; it becomes a sign for the world and a concrete criterion for ourselves."

"Every human being, save Mary, has constant need of conversion."

" . . . in the humility of one who knows that he is a sinner, is he called."

"We too, all of us, need to learn again to accept God and Jesus Christ as he is, and not the way we want him to be."

"Tonight we want to ask Jesus to look to us, as with kindly eyes he looked to Peter when the time was right, and to convert us."

"'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you.'  Lord, you desire us, you desire me.  You eagerly desire to share yourself with us in the Holy Eucharist, to be one with us.  Lord, awaken in us the desire for you.  Strengthen us in unity with you and with one another.  Grant unity to your Church, so that the world may believe.  Amen."





I would recommend that you read the entirety of both homilies.  They are excellent.  They give us wonderful reflection material for the quiet of these days.




Enjoy the journey . . .