My blog today is a matter not of my thoughts or words; rather, they are the words of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Harrisburg Diocese. He shared his personal reflections for Holy Week in the Catholic Witness, March 30, 2007 issue. Please pray for our dynamic Bishop.
When we begin the Easter Triduum on Holy Thursday night, we enter, in a sense, into the Upper Room with Jesus as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. We give thanks for the two sacraments instituted by Christ during the Last Supper: the Eucharist and Holy Orders. The Lord Jesus gave us the Holy Eucharist as the perpetual memorial of His death and resurrection so that we can participate in His sacrifice and receive the graces of redemption through the Paschal banquet. The Lord Jesus gave us the ministerial priesthood so that the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood, the source and summit of our lives, would be celebrated in every time and place. Please pray with me this Holy Thursday for our priests and seminarians and for an increase in priestly vocations, for without ordained priests, who alone receive the power to consecrate the Eucharist, we cannot celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Perhaps you can keep this intention in mind during prayer before the Blessed Sacrament this Holy Thursday night when the Eucharist is solemnly reserved for adoration in our parish churches and chapels after the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
Peace.
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