April 17, 2025 // Holy Thursday
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm from the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
Reflect on the Word // I cupped my fingers gingerly around the small vessel of wine and prayed for steady hands as I joined the other women in our procession toward the altar. It wasn’t my first time bringing up the gifts at Mass, but the fact that I had been asked to do so at this particular moment felt divinely ordained. In all honesty, I hadn’t planned on celebrating Holy Thursday Mass at this parish. I was coming out of Lent with a deep-rooted ache in my heart that no amount of prayer, fasting, or almsgiving had been able to shake. But I sensed that resurrection awaited me here.
The bishop smiled at me as I presented the simple offering that would soon be changed substantially into the Blood of Jesus Christ. What I would come to discover was that something had changed in me too. Or, as the Psalmist would say, my bonds had been loosed (see Psalm 116:16).
Through the ordinary action of handing over the wine for the sacred banquet, I had been invited to hand over my heart as well, with all its woundedness. And that’s precisely the point, isn’t it, sister? That through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, our very selves would be taken to the Father as an oblation and emptied out “in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:18) to bring about transformation. Healing. Communion.
We chant together as one body in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “Our blessing cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16). But do we truly perceive the beauty of this profound sharing in the Paschal sacrifice? As we embark on the journey of the Sacred Triduum, let’s bring the whole of our being to the One Who held nothing back from us. His Blood was shed so we might drink in the Father’s glory to the full. A self-emptying love like this demands nothing less in return.
Listen, dear one. Can you hear Him beckon us to the table? Come, He says, receive Me. Give yourself to Me. Share in this Communion.
Relate to the Lord // What will you offer Jesus this Holy Thursday? Place it on the altar to be transformed in the liturgy.
Cathy Webb is a consecrated virgin for the Diocese of Wilmington and the creator of the Sacred Heart to Heart prayer journal. A full-time Library Assistant, she finds joy in embracing the sacrament of the present moment and spreading the fragrance of Love everywhere she goes. She also treasures large cups of tea; her Chihuahua, Lucy; and anything Saint Therese. When she’s not writing and creating for the Kingdom, she can be found wearing a pretty dress while adoring the Heart of her Divine Spouse in the Eucharist. She is a contributing author to Blessed Conversations: Home. Find out more about her here.
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