-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Do you understand what I have done to you? I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have donne to you" ( Jn. 13:13-15).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are gathered here this evening at the invitation of the Lord. We have been invited to the Lord's table, to the Lord's Supper, that Supper for which He longed: " I have longed to eat this passover with you before I suffer", He had said.( Lk. 22:15). He was already at table with His guests and he knew them very well, indeed he knew exactly what they were thinking. As yet they had not understood the significance of the moment and they had still much to learn. Jesus knew that His Hour had come " to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was"(Jn. 13:1). Those who were his were there at the table with him. He had chosen them. Now he was about to leave them to return to His Father. This would be His last Supper with them.

It is indeed interesting how the Evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke give an account of what happened at the table of the Supper recounting how Jesus knew one of them was about to betray Him and how He gave them ' His Body to eat' and ' His Blood to drink' in the institution of the Eucharist. They recount also how Jesus wanted to perpetuate what He was doing at that Supper so He gave His disciples a share in His priesthood saying: "Do this as a memorial of me"(Lk.22: 19 ). Yet, John, the beloved disciple, who was closest to Him at the table highlights in his Gospel a most important episode of the Supper encounter not mentioned by the other Evangelists: " He got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing" (Jn. 13: 4-5 ). As one listens to John's account of what happened one has the distinct impression that the disciples were dumbfounded at what was happening. Peter certainly was. The sequence at the table indicates that Jesus washed the disciples feet before the institution of the Eucharist and before ordaining His first Priests of the New Covenant. It was to be a New Covenant in His Love. " Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each others feet" ( Jn. 13:13-14). The Eucharist and the Priesthood were given in a context of love, a love that calls for service. This evening we are enveloped and caught up in that love as we join with the whole Church at the beginning of the Paschal Triduum which, through our celebration of this ' mystery of faith ', becomes 'contemporaneous' with men and women of every age.

This evening, during the celebration of the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the heart of the Church in Rome, His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, signed his fourteenth Encyclical Letter to the whole Church on the theme of the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church. With his personal experience of 56 years of priestly ministry and on the occasion of the 25th year of his Pontificate as Vicar of Christ on earth, the Pope shares with each one of us in this beautiful letter his own personal experience of and faith in the Eucharist. I share with you a short synthesis of the Encyclical in the hope that each one of you will take it up and read and reflect on it. It is addressed to you.

The first chapter, " The Mystery of Faith" , explains the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist which, through the ministry of the priest, makes sacramentally present at each Mass the body ' given up' and the blood ' poured out ' for the world's salvation. The celebration of the Eucharist is not a repetition of Christ's passover, nor its multiplication in time and space; it is the one sacrifice of the Cross, which is re-presented until the end of time. It is, in the words of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, " a medicine of immortality, an antidote to death". As a pledge of the future Kingdom, the Eucharist also reminds believers of their responsibility for the present earth, in which the weak, the most powerless and the poorest await help from those who, by their solidarity, can give them reason for hope. Here the washing of the feet is truly prophetic.

" The Eucharist builds the Church" is the title of the second chapter. When the faithful approach the sacred banquet, not only do they receive Christ, but they in turn are received by him. The consecrated Bread and Wine are the force which generates the Church's unity. The Church is united to her Lord who, vieled by the Eucharistic species, dwells within her and builds her up. She worships him not only at Holy Mass itself, but at all other times, cherishing him as her most precious ' treasure '.

The third chapter is a reflection on " The Apostolicity of the Eucharist and of the Church". Just as the full reality of the Church does not exist without apostolic succession, so there is no true Eucharist without the Bishop. The priest who celebrates acts in the person of Christ the Head; he does not posses the Eucharist as its master, but is its servant for the benefit of the community of the saved. It follows that the Christian community does not ' possess ' the Eucharist, but receives it as a gift.

These reflections are developed in the fourth chapter, "The Eucharist and Ecclesial Communion". The Church, as the minister of Christ's Body and Blood for the salvation of the world, abides by all that Christ himself established. Faithful to the teaching of the Apostles, united in the discipline of the sacraments, she must also manifest in a visible manner her invisible unity. The Eucharist cannot be ' used' as a means of communion; rather it presupposes communion as already existing and strengthens it. In this context emphasis needs to be given to the commitment to ecumenism which must mark all the Lord's followers: the Eucharist creates communion and builds communion, when it is celebrated truthfully. It cannot be subject to the whim of individual or of particular communities.

" The Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration" is the subject of the fifth chapter. The celebration of the " Mass" is marked by outward signs aimed at emphasizing the joy which assembles the community around the incomparable gift of the Eucharist. Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literature and, more generally, every form of art demonstrate how the Church, down the centuries, has feared no extravagance in her witness to the love which unites he to her divine Spouse. A recovery of the sense of beauty is also needed in today's celebration.

The sixth chapter, " At the School of Mary, 'Woman of the Eucharist'", is a timely and original reflection on the surprising analogy between the Mother of God, who by bearing the body of Jesus in her womb became the first ' tabernacle', and the Church who in her heart preserves and offers to the world Christ' Body and Blood. The Eucharist is given to believers so that their life may become a continuous Magnificat in honour of the Most Holy Trinity.

The Conclusion of the Encyclical Letter is demanding: those who wish to pursue the path of holiness need no new ' programmes'. The programme already exists: it is Christ himself who calls out to be known, loved, imitated and proclaimed. The implementation of this process passes through the Eucharist. This is seen from the witness of the Saints, who at every moment of their lives slaked their thirst at the inexhaustible source of this mystery and drew from it the spiritual power needed to live fully their baptismal calling.

This is a summary of the Holy Father's letter to the Church on this Holy Thursday. We are all involved in the Mission of Christ . It is through and with the Eucharist that the Church is built up and it is from the Eucharist that the Church draws her life. Priests and extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist are servants of the Eucharist and through the Eucharist nourish the people of God. This evening all Priests renew their commitment to their Eucharistic Lord as they celebrate the anniversary of the institution of the Ministerial Priesthood. This evening the extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist who have given such faithful service to this local Church and those who are taking on the Ministry for the first time are to be commissioned on this special occasion when we gather for the Lord's Supper. May the Lord continue to bless you in your Ministry and may you always be conscious of the immense gift you receive and give in the Eucharistic species of Bread and Wine.

" I have given you an example", Jesus said to his disciples( Jn. 13:13). An example of genuine love in the gesture of the washing of their feet. Now some members of this faith community will have their feet washed by me in a Christ-like gesture. May you and I experience within us the strength and force of the Saviour's love and may we learn to be to our sisters and brothers, especially to those in need, a veritable icon of the Living God.