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Archbishop Gregory Aymond delivered the following homily on Holy Thursday at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper inside a St. Louis Cathedral that was empty due to precautions against the coronavirus. He acknowledged to the thousands watching on TV or through social media platforms that their hunger for the Eucharist was deep and real, but he offered the encouragement that Jesus – never a believer in “social distancing” – is always with us.
Because of the “social distancing” and the stay-at-home mandate, this Holy Thursday will be one we remember for the rest of our lives. We will not be able to forget it. I wish you were here, even though we are united in spirit. We are close in that spiritual way with theLord.
Jesus and the apostles did not know about social distancing. The meal the apostles and Jesus shared was one that they would never, ever forget. It was astounding to them for two reasons.
First of all, before the meal, Jesus got on his hands and knees with a bowl and pitcher and towels, and he washed their dusty feet, just as a slave would do when guests would come to a house. But after he washed their feet and had that little argument with Peter, he said to them, “As I have done for you, as I have washed your feet, now you must go forth and wash the feet of others.”
We can only imagine that those words were ingrained in the minds and hearts of the apostles, and they didn’t get what he fully meant. What does it mean to go forth and wash feet?
Secondly, there was something else they would never forget in this Passover meal. It’s a very sacred ritual, recalling God’s fidelity and protection. In the Passover meal, there's a very specific ritual of prayers and songs and readings from the Old Testament. All of a sudden in the midst of this supper, Jesus adds to the ritual. He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and says, “This is my Body that is given for you.” Then he took a cup of wine, and after blessing it and thanking God for it, he said, “This is the cup of my blood which will be shed for you.” But then he went on to say, “Do this in memory of me.”
He doesn’t believe in social distancing when it comes to loving us.
This night I am very conscious that certainly all of you at home and many people throughout the archdiocese and the world will not be able to go to Communion, will not be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, and many of you have told me through notes or phone calls that you are hungry for the Eucharist, you are hungering to be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ and, in some ways, your heart feels empty.