For Maundy Thursday

“How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” April fools! 

Not this Man, but those who dare to question what is beyond doubt the Word of that divine Majesty before whom every knee should bow and confess that it is exactly as He says. Jesus does not lie to you. “This is My body, given for you; This is the new testament in My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” 

His remembrance is that we eat His body and drink His blood and so proclaim His death until He comes. Which is a shorthand way of rejoicing: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again! He died to win our salvation and He lives to deliver its saving benefit to us poor sinners and will do so until He appears in triumph on the Last Day. This the Christian congregation preaches every time it assembles before the altar.

During the consecration, prayers may be prayed. After attending to the divine Words over the bread that surely deliver exactly what they promise, as the host is elevated and we gaze upon it, with the awe of St. Thomas on that first Octave of Easter: “Thine of thine own, which Thou didst offer on behalf of all and for us all. Glory to Thee, Lord Jesus, my Lord and my God. Glory to Thee forever!” After attending to the divine Words over the cup that surely delivers what they promise, as the chalice is elevated and we gaze upon it: “Thine own of Thine own, which Thou didst offer on behalf of all and for us all. We, therefore, pray Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood; make them to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen.” 

The April fool is the devil who thought that the suffering and death of the Son of God got Him out of the way; He who had the last laugh is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, and who when He had overcome the sharpness of death did open the Kingdom of heaven to all believers. 

On this holy day, this Maundy Thursday, we rejoice to receive from Him His sacred flesh and blood through His divine Words, and we know that He is feeding us “the medicine of immortality which a man may eat and not die, but live in Christ forevermore.” (St. Ignatius of Antioch) Verily, verily He remains the Servant who goes on washing our body and souls with His all-sufficient sacrifice. Glory to Him forever and ever!!!