Holy Thursday: The Heart of All We Believe
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Lois Rogers | Features Editor
On Holy Thursday, hundreds of faithful flocked to St. Joseph Parish, Toms River, for the solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper which has stood for two millennia as the “unambiguous and non-negotiable core of our Catholic faith.”
Those were the words Bishop David M. O’Connell, C. M., the principal celebrant, chose to describe the unparalled significance of this oldest celebration of Holy Week, which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood.
Click HERE for gallery of photos
The Triduum is the three day period that begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.
In his homily, as he looked out over the crowded nave where the crucifix and statues had been draped with purple cloth, a color symbolizing the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus, Bishop O’Connell called Holy Week a “time of year that is rich with Scripture and tradition, so rich that we who follow the Lord Jesus commemorate it each year.”
He explained that the readings of the night traced “the history of our salvation” from the Old Testament Book of Exodus and Psalm 116 through the writings of St. Paul to the Church at Corinth in the New Testament, concluding with the Gospel of John written toward the end of the first Christian century.
“In Exodus,” the bishop said, “God instructs Moses and Aaron to establish the Jewish feast of Passover, the holy annual remembrance in a symbolic meal of the spilling of the blood of the Egyptians so the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, could be set free from slavery to them.”
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians renews that Passover celebration, he said, but places it in the context of the Last Supper. The Gospel of John “presents Jesus at Passover, making the day forever sacred” with his example of service in washing the feet of his disciples, which the bishop would emulate just moments later.
“My sisters and brothers,” the bishop pronounced, “this night is Holy not because of the things we do, but rather because of the things He did – the Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who gathers us. It is he who drops to his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, makes this night Holy. And what we do, we do in His memory.
“Calling to mind the whole of salvation history. Celebrating the Eucharist. Committing ourselves to the command to serve one another. These actions blend together in memory of Jesus Christ and not only represent who and what he is in memorial and ceremonial actions – they become and are and remain for us in the Church who and what he is,” Bishop O’Connell added.
“Tonight is the unambiguous and non-negotiable core of our Catholic faith,” he said. “Intrinsically and integrally sown together as the one fabric of our Christian lives: one divine cloth that can never be torn or ripped apart because this is what the Church is and why the Church was established and what the Church does.”
In the beginning of the homily, the bishop spoke the fact that some Christian communities use the expression “Maundy” as their reference for the day – a custom that harks back to French and Latin and the root word “mandatum” meaning “commandment.”
That term, he said, is a reference to the command “of the Lord Jesus on that first Holy Thursday to wash the feet of his disciples: ‘As I have done for you, you should also do (john 13:15).’”
And Bishop O’Connell followed in the Lord’s footsteps, going slowly among 12 members of the parish men’s group Veritas, kneeling and washing and drying the feet of each man.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Anthony Marino, a member of Veritas, said the group was profoundly moved to have been selected for the honor.
The group of 70 men formed last year to “fill in wherever needed around the parish,” Marino said. As a for instance, he said group members were planning to add their voices to the choir at the 10:30 Mass on Easter.
“We feel that being asked to participate tonight was really special,” said Marino as he prepared to join the growing line of parishioners participating in the traditional Eucharistic procession to the Adoration Chapel located on the grounds in the former church.
Also in line were Seton Hall student Alyssa Hollingsworth and her mom, Chris.
Mother and daughter said they were very gratified that the bishop had come to celebrate the Mass in St. Joseph Parish. “It was a beautiful thing,” said Alyssa, an international relations major. Her mom added: “It couldn’t have been more perfect.”
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By Lois Rogers | Features Editor
On Holy Thursday, hundreds of faithful flocked to St. Joseph Parish, Toms River, for the solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper which has stood for two millennia as the “unambiguous and non-negotiable core of our Catholic faith.”
Those were the words Bishop David M. O’Connell, C. M., the principal celebrant, chose to describe the unparalled significance of this oldest celebration of Holy Week, which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood.
Click HERE for gallery of photos
The Triduum is the three day period that begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.
In his homily, as he looked out over the crowded nave where the crucifix and statues had been draped with purple cloth, a color symbolizing the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus, Bishop O’Connell called Holy Week a “time of year that is rich with Scripture and tradition, so rich that we who follow the Lord Jesus commemorate it each year.”
He explained that the readings of the night traced “the history of our salvation” from the Old Testament Book of Exodus and Psalm 116 through the writings of St. Paul to the Church at Corinth in the New Testament, concluding with the Gospel of John written toward the end of the first Christian century.
“In Exodus,” the bishop said, “God instructs Moses and Aaron to establish the Jewish feast of Passover, the holy annual remembrance in a symbolic meal of the spilling of the blood of the Egyptians so the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, could be set free from slavery to them.”
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians renews that Passover celebration, he said, but places it in the context of the Last Supper. The Gospel of John “presents Jesus at Passover, making the day forever sacred” with his example of service in washing the feet of his disciples, which the bishop would emulate just moments later.
“My sisters and brothers,” the bishop pronounced, “this night is Holy not because of the things we do, but rather because of the things He did – the Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who gathers us. It is he who drops to his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, makes this night Holy. And what we do, we do in His memory.
“Calling to mind the whole of salvation history. Celebrating the Eucharist. Committing ourselves to the command to serve one another. These actions blend together in memory of Jesus Christ and not only represent who and what he is in memorial and ceremonial actions – they become and are and remain for us in the Church who and what he is,” Bishop O’Connell added.
“Tonight is the unambiguous and non-negotiable core of our Catholic faith,” he said. “Intrinsically and integrally sown together as the one fabric of our Christian lives: one divine cloth that can never be torn or ripped apart because this is what the Church is and why the Church was established and what the Church does.”
In the beginning of the homily, the bishop spoke the fact that some Christian communities use the expression “Maundy” as their reference for the day – a custom that harks back to French and Latin and the root word “mandatum” meaning “commandment.”
That term, he said, is a reference to the command “of the Lord Jesus on that first Holy Thursday to wash the feet of his disciples: ‘As I have done for you, you should also do (john 13:15).’”
And Bishop O’Connell followed in the Lord’s footsteps, going slowly among 12 members of the parish men’s group Veritas, kneeling and washing and drying the feet of each man.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Anthony Marino, a member of Veritas, said the group was profoundly moved to have been selected for the honor.
The group of 70 men formed last year to “fill in wherever needed around the parish,” Marino said. As a for instance, he said group members were planning to add their voices to the choir at the 10:30 Mass on Easter.
“We feel that being asked to participate tonight was really special,” said Marino as he prepared to join the growing line of parishioners participating in the traditional Eucharistic procession to the Adoration Chapel located on the grounds in the former church.
Also in line were Seton Hall student Alyssa Hollingsworth and her mom, Chris.
Mother and daughter said they were very gratified that the bishop had come to celebrate the Mass in St. Joseph Parish. “It was a beautiful thing,” said Alyssa, an international relations major. Her mom added: “It couldn’t have been more perfect.”
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