Bishop Peter Jugis prays before the Altar of Repose at St. Patrick Cathedral following the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Thursday. (Photo by Troy Hull).CHARLOTTE — On Holy Thursday, Bishop Peter Jugis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. Patrick Cathedral, calling on the faithful to draw ever closer to Jesus in the Eucharist.
The March 28 liturgy marked the start of the Triduum – the three holy days preceding the Resurrection of the Lord at Easter.
“All through Lent, the Lord has been calling us to turn away from sin, and repent of our sins,” Bishop Jugis said in his homily to the large crowd gathered in the cathedral. “In the coming days, we celebrate all He has done for us, to save us from our sins.”
A highlight of the Mass came as Bishop Jugis removed the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle and processed out of the sanctuary along with the faithful to the altar of repose, in memory of when Jesus was arrested and taken from His disciples following the Last Supper.
Bishop Jugis noted that the Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Jesus’ celebration of the Passover meal with His disciples, His washing of their feet, His agony in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His betrayal and arrest. The day also marks the institution of the Eucharist, the priesthood, and the Mass we still celebrate in His memory. Jesus’ actions on Holy Thursday and leading up to His crucifixion on Good Friday illustrate the deep love Our Lord has for all people. His willingness to offer up His life is an expression of His great love and unending mercy.
Bishop Jugis urged people to continue their work to deepen their faith: “How do we continue to grow after the work of Lent? How can we grow closer to Our Lord? Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist so that we continue to grow and deepen in our friendship with Him.”
From Greensboro to Asheville and beyond, churches across the diocese celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Adding to their processions and liturgies, some priests also washed the feet of parishioners in honor and memory of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, encouraging them to follow His example of love and humility.
A crowd filled Our Lady of Mercy Church in Winston-Salem for the celebration of the Holy Thursday liturgy. On an altar without linens or sacred images and with the tabernacle empty, Father David McCanless, pastor, celebrated a bilingual Mass, accompanied by Father Miguel Sanchez, parochial vicar, and Deacon Serge Bernatchez serving at the altar.
In his homily, Father McCanless noted Peter's refusal to let Jesus wash his feet. He said some might see Peter as confused here, "but he's not."
"Peter understands perfectly well what Jesus is doing. But Peter doesn't want a Messiah who washes feet instead of winning honor in battle,” Father McCanless said. “This was not his idea of the Messiah. He wanted Him with power and glory."
Father McCanless noted that many times we, like Peter, want a very different Messiah, according to our expectations, our needs.
"Tonight, the lesson that Peter learns, and so do we as disciples, is that we are to follow God in His path of service, full of faith."
Then, in a humble and moving gesture, Father McCanless and Father Sanchez washed the feet of 12 parishioners in front of the altar.
Another striking moment of the Holy Thursday Mass comes when altars are stripped bare, candles and lights extinguished, and the Blessed Sacrament is transferred to a temporary altar of repose until Easter.
At St. Patrick Cathedral, parishioners walked in silence, a bereft and mournful air hanging above them, as they followed the bishop carrying the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose in the chapel of the Family Life Center. Visitors then spent time with the Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, calling to mind the Agony in the Garden. The moment demonstrates the Church’s sense of bereavement during Christ’s Passion and burial.
Across the diocese, faithful also spent time in Eucharistic Adoration, recalling Jesus’ words to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour?”
On Good Friday, no Mass is celebrated. Churches instead offer times where the faithful can partake in Stations of the Cross, Adoration and Veneration of the Cross.
— Spencer K.M. Brown, César Hurtado. Photos by Troy Hull, César Hurtado, and provided.
