News Item: : Holy Thursday 2014
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Thursday 17 April 2014 - 16:19:40

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Jesus in Gethsemane: He had always loved those that were His, and now He showed the full extent of His love.

In the Jewish Pesach Seder meal, it is traditional for the youngest member of each family to ask, 'What makes this night different to all other nights?'

This night is indeed different.

It is the night on which Jesus Christ instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacred Priesthood, that would offer It down through the ages until His glorious Second Coming.

One of the great mysteries of the Catholic Faith is the principle of anamnesis.

By this mystery, we are made present through the Sacred Liturgy to the actual saving events of Jesus Christ's Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven and sending of the Holy Spirit.

On this night of Holy Thursday, the Catholic Church enters into the Sacred Triduum; these three pivotal liturgies are the beating heart of the Church's liturgical year.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls: 'Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole liturgical year with its brilliance... Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the 'Feast of feasts,' the 'Solemnity of solemnities,' just as the Eucharist is the 'Sacrament of sacraments' (the Great Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls Easter 'the Great Sunday' and the Eastern churches call Holy Week the 'Great Week' (CCC 1168;1169).

On this night, the Mass of the Lord's Supper helps us enter into the actual institution by Christ of the Mass and the Priesthood. At the end of this Mass, the Blessed Sacrament - the Real Presence, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ - is processed to an Altar of Repose, adorned with candles, for silent veneration and prayer.

This awesome period of silence is one of the most sacred times each year when grace is so tangible it seems to thicken the air. In this time we are enabled to enter into the Lord's Hour in Gethsemane.

In this Hour, Jesus Christ makes that act of acceptance in His Human Will, in union with His Divine Will, to drink the chalice of suffering in order to save our souls. He gives us this great example of conforming our wills to that of God. 

In St. Matthew's Gospel 24:40, Jesus asks His disciples, who had fallen asleep while he prayed in Gethsemane, 'Could you not wait with me just one hour?' On this sacred night, we are enabled to enter into His Hour with Him and watch with Him in love.

What a grace-filled opportunity for Catholics to receive afresh - and respond in their hearts and wills to - these words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 'Jesus knew and loved us each and all during His life, His agony and His Passion, and He gave Himself up for each one of us: 'The Son of God... loved me and gave Himself for me' (Galatians 2:20). He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation (John 19:34), is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that... love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception (CCC 478).
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On this night, the Liturgy of the Catholic Church gives us a particularly important opportunity to receive this love anew and to respond to it. Don't miss the opportunity!   



This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.631 )