The choir burst into singing the “Gloria” at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.
The Mass for Holy Thursday marks the start of Holy Triduum and commemorates the institution of the priesthood and Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. As part of the liturgy, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge washed the feet of 12 seminarians to reenact Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
In his homily, Bishop Burbidge said that through Jesus’ institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist, he gives mankind a model of self-sacrifice and of love to follow.
“Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, also reminds us that the Holy Eucharist is a sacrament of healing. He says the Eucharist heals our wounded memory for it brings us the Father’s faithful love, which heals our sense of feeling forgotten and reminds us we are always embraced in his love and mercy,” Bishop Burbidge said. “Pope Francis says the Eucharist heals our negative memory in which we think only of what we have done wrong and how we have failed. The Eucharist is a sacrament of healing in which we experience the mercy of God. The Eucharist heals our closed memory thinking that nothing can change in our world, in our lives, or in the lives of others. The Eucharist is the source of new life, the new life we are preparing to celebrate at Easter, and a gift from the Father who makes us a new creation.”
Bishop Burbidge added that while the faithful should welcome and receive Jesus in the Eucharist, they must also live out the love they receive and share it with others.
“You wash the feet of one another, when you reach out to them, visit them, encourage them, including your own family members and neighbors. In these times when we see so much conflict and division, we wash the feet of one another when we seek to listen respectfully to one another even if we disagree; when we are willing not to judge people with the understanding that only God knows the depth of one’s heart: and when we are willing, in imitation of Jesus, to forgive even those who have hurt or betrayed us,” Bishop Burbidge said.
Following the prayer after Communion, Bishop Burbidge processed out of the church with the Blessed Sacrament to place it upon the altar of repose in Burke Hall. A procession of the faithful followed, singing “Pange Lingua.” Members of the faithful worshipped the Blessed Sacrament at the altar until midnight.
