Holy Thursday
Cycle B
April 1, 2021
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 7pm
“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 we have also been taken and blessed, broken and given. 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 transforms us. In and through Jesus, God makes us valued and worthy.
This is so important as our foundation for life. In our world, value and worth are 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 basis for living this is for us. We are taken andblessed by God.
We Are Broken and Given
And then, we are broken and given.
Here we have to understand the word broken a little bit differently. Jesus has not 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 also feel broken because of something that has happened to us or because of something we have done. Or again, we may feel broken because our family is split apart.
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 maybe by just having a good listening ear for a family member or friend. And we can be given or give of ourselves in one of the parish ministries or by being there for somebody at work who is having a hard time right now.
And, the important thing to recall is that we will be given or give of ourselves authentically. We will do this because we remain humbly aware that we too have some brokenness, some kind of human incompleteness.
This is why at the Last Supper, Jesus coupled the giving of the Eucharist with the washing of the feet. He wanted us to know that the Eucharist empowers and motivates us to be given, to give of our ourselves for one another.
Conclusion
So, Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave.”
He gives us his own body and blood to nourish and strengthen us on our journey. And he wants us to be aware that we also are taken and blessed, broken and given.
