It Does Not End. It Never Ends...!

Our Easter Triduum began with the Holy Thursday celebration. It's highlight was the reenactment of the Washing of the Feet of the Apostles. The celebration is about the institution of the Eucharist and the Ministry of Priesthood. Below is a "remembering" of the homily I gave

From John 3:16, we can find a biblical summary of God's plan of salvation. God loved the world. He created everything. He also wanted that all Creation will join Him. He wanted all men and women be saved. He would do everything and spare no one for the realization of His purpose. And so, even His Son, was offered for our salvation. That mission to save man was inaugurated by the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ (The Incarnation). The unthinkable and impossible for man was done by God. The Word became flesh. God became man. God fulfilled His promise to save us and to be with us forever. Emmanuel ("God with us.") was the name that Jesus bore based on the message of the angel Gabriel to Mary. Jesus, in the three years of His active ministry proclaimed the Good News in Word and Deed. His mission culminated in His death on the cross. "Consumatum est!" (Everything is done! It is finished), were His last words on the cross. By virtue of that whole act of love of God from Creation to the death of Jesus, man was saved. The grace of redemption flowed from God who died on the cross! But it did not end there...

The night before, knowing that He would die, He instituted the Eucharist. That which every Jew does during the Passover, remembering how God saved them from Pharaoh through the Passover meal, was given a new meaning by Jesus. This time, it will be the Passover of all men and women from the slavery of Satan. The bread that they ate was His Body. The wine that they drank was His Blood. It is the blood of the new and everlasting covenant that will be shared  for the purpose of salvation. Whenever it is done, we remember the Lord. Note that the remembrance here is not just an exercise of the mind. Jesus meant here that whenever the Eucharistic meal is being done, that which was available when He died on the cross is made available in the present! 

The Eucharist is a bloodless Calvary. In the Eucharist, the victim continues to be Christ. The priest acts in persona Cristi, in the person of Christ. He represents Christ. That is why we refer to the priest as the Presider and not the Celebrant. In as much as in the Eucharist salvation emanates, it is constitutive of our Christian life. Our life revolves and finds its source in it. It is the Center of our spiritual life! We celebrate the Eucharist to offer our lives to God and to open that same life so that God can offer Himself to us for our spiritual nourishment. When we receive communion, we perfect the relationship we have with God and with one another. We become in communion with God and neighbor. And so, the Lord Jesus gave us the Way in order for us to benefit from His saving act which was done in Calvary. But, again, it did not end there...

How will the Eucharist be celebrated? Who must lead in celebrating it? How sure can we be that the intention would be preserved in every celebration? Jesus, also covered that part. When He commanded the apostles to do the Eucharistic meal in His remembrance, He entrusted it to His apostles. From His apostles it was passed on from generation to generation through the ministry o the sacred order or the priesthood.

There is only one Priesthood and that is the Priesthood of Christ. He is the High Priest who offered prayers to His Father for our salvation. We, on our own can not stand toe to toe with God. We on our own do not have the personality to deal with God regarding our salvation. The one must be God's equal. Jesus was the One! We also share in that Priesthood of Christ. Everyone of us received it when we were Baptized. Aside from the Priestly function, we also  received also the other two functions of Jesus, the Prophetic and Pastoral functions. Both shared priesthood are active in the celebration of the Eucharist. The only difference is that the priest alone turns the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus, in the Spirit. All others, we participate by virtue of our own priesthood. We all give thanks, express our petition, offer gifts, and receive communion. In other words, we all exercise our priesthood in the Eucharist though in varying degrees and essence. The shared priesthood thus ensures that the Eucharist will be celebrated for all time. The ordained priesthood further guarantees it because of the commitment made by the candidate during his ordination. The ordained minister will be a priest forever! But again, it does not end there...

The Eucharist that is celebrated, in all its merits, is not contained in the celebration. At the end of each Eucharistic celebration the priest says, "The celebration is ended, GO..." There is the missionary aspect of our being Eucharistic people. Today's ritual of the washing of the feet reflects that message. Service is at the core of the Eucharist. The Eucharist we celebrate must find its fulfillment in the service of neighbor. The one who had experienced the Eucharist can not but be joyful in sharing it to others in word and deed. He reflects and shares Christ to others. Others must see Christ in him. But again, it does not end there...

In the next life, life continues. The Eucharist continues not anymore in the earthly context but in the heavenly bliss. The heavenly banquet will be celebrated in God's Kingdom where all will be filled by God's Spirit! And it never ends because its ETERNAL!