Holy Thursday
Cycle B
March 29, 2018
Retreat and
Conference Center at Bon Secours
“Took,
Blessed, Broke, and Gave”
In a few minutes, I will
stand here at the altar and lead the Eucharistic Prayer.
I will repeat some words
that we have heard many times. The prayer says that Jesus “took the bread, blessed it, broke
it and gave it to his disciples.”
This evening, I am focusing
on those four action words. Jesus “took,
blessed, broke, and gave.”
What I am thinking is
that Jesus has also taken
and blessed, broken and given us. Here
is what I have in mind.
We Are Taken and Blessed
First, we are taken
and blessed.
I remember when I was
growing up in the Northwood community of Baltimore City, we would often
organize our own baseball games on a field in the neighborhood. Each time we
did this, two of us would be the managers of the two teams and would take turns
choosing players from among the guys who were there.
Well, it was a big deal
to be taken or chosen first. It meant that you were a good player and it
was a real ego-booster.
Thank God, in the end,
everyone was taken. No one was left out.
Well, the first thing we
have to realize in the spiritual life is that God has taken and blessed
each one of us. God has spoken over us
the same words that the Father speaks over Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved son. You are my beloved
daughter.”
In this, God has touched
the very core of our being. In and through Jesus, God has made us valued and
worthy, wanted and loved.
This is so important as
our foundation for living in today’s world. In our world, value and worth is
often contingent on having sparkling white teeth or having a good job or owning
a BMW or whatever.
But in truth, Jesus
assures us that God has already taken and blessed each one of us.
No one is excluded, like in my childhood pick-up baseball games.
What a wonderful sense of
self and what a strong foundation for living this is for us. God, Jesus has taken
and blessed us.
We
Are Broken and Given
And
then, Jesus has broken and given us.
Here
we have to understand the word broken a little bit differently. Jesus
has not really broken us.
Instead,
he wants us to realize that we are broken. Each one of us is broken
in at least some way.
We
are all broken because we are human. We are incomplete in our own
humanity and we are restless for the wholeness that only God can give.
We
may be broken because of something that has happened to us or because of
an addiction or because of a lost relationship. Or maybe because we feel guilty
about something we have done.
So,
Jesus wants us to be aware of our brokenness. And then, with that awareness, we
can be given.
We
can be given or give of ourselves with compassion and wisdom. We can do
this with loved ones, family and friends.
We
can do this with those in our local church or community or with co-workers at
our jobs. And we can do this with those whio are living in desperate situations
and whom we may never personally know.
In
other words, we will be given authentically and fully because we know that
we ourselves are also broken. That is the richness of these words.
Conclusion
I
conclude with this.
At
the Last Supper, Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave” the bread to us. He gives
us his own body and blood to nourish and strengthen us on our journey.
And
he also gives us this bread so that we, in turn, can be bread, a bread of life
for one another. This will happen as we realize that we also are taken
and blessed, broken and given.
