Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday 2012

A new commandment I give you.

The old commandments are very specific. They can be categorized as a list of what we should do and what we should not do.

The “to do” list includes: the worship of one God on the seventh day, and respect for parents.

The not to do list includes making idols, blasphemy, theft, murder, adultery, deceit and coveting.

God gave the Law though Moses. Embedded in the Law is the sacrificial system. The sacrificial systems states: when (not if) you break these laws these are the rituals you must perform and the sacrifices you must offer. The rituals and sacrifice are designed to heal the break in the relationship with God, other people and our true identity.

We never truly break any Divinely issued law. The Law is immutable. We can violate the law. When we violate the law we break the three primary relationships God designed. As human beings we have been designed to live and move and have our being in a set of three primary relationships.

It is because of that original design that Jesus summarizes all of the Laws and rituals and sacrifices with a single word: Love.

The New Commandment is the principle of Love.

The New Commandment is not a list of things to do and things not to do. It is a principle. It is open ended. It derives its meaning and purpose from the very nature of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Love is the reality of God. It is active, dynamic, creative, spontaneous, unconditional, infinite and eternal.
At the Last Supper, Jesus fulfilled and transformed the old ritual and sacrifice of the Old Covenant.

Jesus took the rituals of the synagogue and the Temple and transformed them through a simple meal. He set the meal in the context of the preeminent historic event of the Old Covenant: the Passover. Jesus declares that he is now the Passover Lamb.
After Jesus dies on the cross there will be no need for future sacrifices. The sacrifice we offer at the altar tonight is a representation of the one pure perfect complete and final sacrifice. At the altar in the bread and the wine the timeless touches time and transform time.

Jesus is truly present to us at the altar of sacrifice as he was truly present to his disciples in the upper room, as he was truly present to holy mother Mary and the beloved apostle John at the cross.

We do not summon a mere memory in the Mass. The Mass is the real Presence of the infinite and eternal love of God in our midst. The Bread is the Body of Christ. The wine is the Blood of Christ.

The Body and the Blood are the font of life, the eternal life of the One God in three persons. There is no life apart from the source of life. There is eternal life in the fountain of life present to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.

The New Commandment is the Real Presence of the co-eternal Beloved Son. Jesus is here for us sacramentally so He can produce in us a new way of living.

We cannot produce that new way of living by the assertion of our own will. The assertion of self will only produces pride. That pride erodes through fear and becomes despair.

At the altar of sacrifice, the altar of divine love, Jesus saves us from self will, pride, fear and despair. He saves us by transforming the old life of separation into the new life of reunification. He saves us by transforming the old way of living by fear, self will, pride and despair into the new way of living by faith, hope, love and compassion.

The new commandment is love. Love God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love God through worship.

Love your neighbor, any one you meet with compassion. Hold the attitude of compassion in your conscious awareness. Ask God and ask other people: how may I help?
Love your self, your own unique particular individual identity. Love yourself through the ongoing process of transformation in holiness.

We love God through worship. We love others through compassion, We love ourselves in the pursuit of personal holiness, the transformation of thoughts, emotions and will.
What Jesus commands Jesus empowers. What Jesus empowers Jesus transforms.

The new commandment is love. The power of love is the infinite and eternal life of the One God in three persons. The transformation is the medicine of immortality, the food and drink of eternal life that springs from the fountain of infinite love.
The commandment is love. The power is love. The process of transformation is love. The love is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.