THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME

This Thursday is Holy Thursday, the day on which we celebrate the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Holy Thursday commemorates the Institution of the Eucharist by Christ when He celebrated the Passover with His disciples.

During the Passover Meal, Jesus gives His disciples bread and wine and instructs them that these have become his body and blood which is to be enacted every time they gather to share this Meal, known as the Eucharist.

St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians “that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the words of the consecration at Mass, Jesus says: “Take this, all of you ,and eat of it for this is My Body.” Then, giving the disciples the chalice, he says: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the Chalice of My Blood.” Jesus concludes: “Do this in memory of Me.” Faithful to Jesus’s words, the Second Vatican Council recommended receiving not only the body of Christ, but also the Blood of Christ.

Since the pandemic began three years ago, we have not been receiving the Blood of Christ. This year with Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, we will be re-introducing the option of receiving the Blood of Christ. In the coming months we hope to be able to make this a regular part of Communion.