KEEPING THE LAST WISHES OF A DYING GOD
My student Fr Richard Mayo, was serving in an island parish in Palawan. He became paralyzed when TB virus attacked his spinal column. Shortly after, he died, at the very young age of 30. While he was under medication, he seemed to have felt that his end was near and he gave final instructions to his sister. He said when I die, put me in a pink casket, because pink is my favorite color. During the farewell mass at San Carlos Seminary, his sister cried while giving a eulogy: Kuya, I followed everything you told me, except that I couldn’t find a pink casket. They don’t make it here in the Philippines!
Of course, I believe that Richard was joking about his casket’s color. But isn’t this really what happens between the dying and the loved ones left behind? If there are last words, we try our best to keep it, to fulfill it, to make sure that the final wishes come true.
This is a very special night. This is the night before Jesus died on the cross. This is the night when Jesus was arrested and separated from his disciples. This is the night when Jesus would know that the end was near. Tonight, Jesus was already a dying man, the target of hatred and anger, of resistance and rejection.
On this night, Jesus shared with us his last wishes before he embraced the cross., the wishes of a dying man. And as his followers listened they knew they had to keep those words and fulfill them in his honor. What were the last words of Jesus, His legacy, His gifts to His disciples and to us?
Three things:
1. The Eucharist
Today, Jesus said: “This is my body, this is my blood. Do this in remembrane of me.” Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist and so this celebration should be the most festive, most joyful, most meaningful Eucharist of the year – it is the anniversary of the Holy Mass.
Many people say they remember Jesus. And they do remember His words. They do remember Him in praise and worship. They remember Him in fellowship. But that is not what Jesus said the night he was betrayed – to remember only in praise, in fellowship, in bible study. He said when you remember me, do this: This is my body, this is my blood. His last gift was the Eucharist, the Mass.
For two thousand years, we in the Catholic Church have continued to remember Jesus everyday and every Sunday through the Eucharist. Here we encounter Jesus completely - in His words, in one another, and in the Body and Blood we share.
Many Catholics have become lazy to attend this celebration of the Mass because they do not know the full meaning of this act of worship. But for those who are faithful , the Eucharist is the source of strength and consolation, of peace and joy, of healing and reconciliation.
If you want to honor Jesus, to serve and love Him, then go to Mass every Sunday and appreciate what He has done for you.
The first dying wish of Jesus is for us to remember him in the Eucharist.
2. The Priesthood
Today something unusual happened between Jesus and his disciples. The Master stooped down to wash the feet of the Twelve. This gesture will be repeated by the priest in today’s celebration by washing the feet of 12 chosen men.
Why did Jesus show so much importance to this act? Peter revolted against the idea. The others disciples must have felt ashamed too, to have Jesus touch their dirty feet and dead toenails.
Jesus second dying wish was service and he gave us an example of this service through the life his apostle, his first priests. As Jesus instituted the Eucharist, Jesus also instituted the sacrament of the Priesthood, the sacrament of service for the whole Christian community.
In what church do we find these two dying wishes of Jesus together – His body and blood and His apostles serving the church? In the Catholic Church we have kept these sacraments intact.
There were times we were hurt by priests. There were times we felt our priests did not care. I am sorry for this and with my brother priests, For this, I sincerely ask your forgiveness. For the negligence of the priests and for my own sins against you, the people I serve, I beg for forgiveness.
But it doesn’t change the fact that though priests are sinners, they have received a mission that comes from the Lord. They come from the Lord and are sent by the Lord. Notice how our priests - coming from another town, province of country - are assigned to us by the bishop, and not selected from our community? It is God who calls and sends his servants.
And the priest comes to serve, not alone but together with you. The priest serves well when we assist him in his duties. He cannot do it all alone. How can I effectively serve you - 60, 000 of you in this parish - if you will not help me.
A sad thing is happening in the Philippines today. Some people are trying to destroy the link between priests and people and making the priest appear the enemy of his flock. A lunatic disturbed the Mass at the Manila Cathedral with shouts and placards pointed at priests that says “Damaso!” Who was Padre Damaso? A priest in the novels of Rizal? But what he a Filipino priest? Rizal made him a symbol of a Spanish friar oppressive of the people. Rizal was also intelligent enough to know that not all the friars were oppressive and cruel to the natives. In the novels of Rizal, there is no generalization of all priests as evil for there are priestly characters who truly served God and the people well. Now, politicians and journalists supporting causes criticized by the Church are using these generalizations to destroy people’s relationships with their priests.
Just as Jesus sent his apostles, so Jesus also sends his priests to serve. They do not carry their own doctrines, their own creeds but merely remind us of what we as Catholics already believe. It is their task to preach, to celebrate and to lead people to God. And these are not easy tasks.
Support your priests for they come to serve your goal of holiness and unity. We may not be from the very areas where we serve but we try our best to serve with our whole hearts. We may not always agree on everything but we must respect each other. As Christians, people and priests preserve unity and avoid division in the Body of Christ.
3. Prayer
Jesus first dying wish was the Eucharist, the second was the Priesthood. The third one was prayer.
After the Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus went out to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. I have seen this place in the pilgrimage to the Holy Land some years ago, with huge olive trees all around. There is a tree that is said to be already there when Jesus was praying in the garden.
Jesus specifically asked his disciples: pray with me at least an hour.
What a beautiful occasion we celebrate today. This is the heart of Holy Week and Jesus invites us to be with him in prayer. After Mass, the Body of the Lord will be placed on a special altar so that we can pray with to him and with him. This is a powerful night to pray because our prayer is one with Jesus. As you go on your Visita Iglesia, do not just roam around admiring churches or frantically finishing your Stations of the Cross. Take time to locate the Altar of Repose and pray there for yourself, for your family, for your problems and cares. Pray for our parish, our priests, our new bishop. pray for our nation and the poor around us.
This is the night of Jesus’ last wishes. Let us promise the Lord that we will struggle to keep his wishes at the center of our lives.
Tomorrow, join us again as we journey with Jesus, from the garden to the Cross.
Amen.
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