Dom Prosper Gueranger:
The third Sacrament — the Holy Eucharist — is so intimately connected with our Redeemer’s Passion that its institution could not be deferred till the Resurrection had taken place. On Maundy Thursday we honoured the solemn act by which our Jesus prepared for the morrow’s sacrifice by instituting the mystery of His Body and Blood, which are really immolated in the Eucharistic Supper. The Apostles were not only admitted, as all future generations were to be, to partake of the Divine Food, which gives life to the world, (John vi. 33) but they moreover received power from Jesus, the Priest forever (cix. 4), to do what He Himself had just done. The great Mystery was inaugurated. The new Priesthood was instituted, and now that Jesus is rise n from the dead, He makes known to His Apostles the whole importance of the gift bestowed on mankind at the Last Supper. He bids them begin the exercise of the sublime power conferred on them as soon as the Holy Ghost, by descending on the Earth, will give to the Church the signal for her using the prerogatives with which she has been endowed. And, finally, He teaches how they are to perform this special function of their Priesthood.
At the Last Supper the Apostles were still carnal minded men. They were taken up with the sad event that was about to happen, and overcome with grief at their Divine Master’s telling them that that was the last Pasch He was to keep with them. They were not, therefore, in a fit state to appreciate what it was that Jesus had done for them, when He uttered those words: “Take and eat; this is my Body — Drink all of this, for this is my Blood.” Still less did they understand the greatness of the power they received, of doing what their Lord Himself had just done in their presence. Now that Jesus is risen from the grave, He unfolds all these mysteries to them. The Sacrament of the Eucharist was not instituted during these days, but it was made known, explained and glorified by its Divine Institute: and this circumstance gives a fresh lustre to the sacred season we are now going through.
Of all the Sacraments, there is not one that can be compared, in dignity, to that of the Eucharist. The others give grace. This gives us the very Author of grace. The others are only Sacraments. This is both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice. We will endeavour to explain it in all its magnificence, when we come to the bright feast of Corpus Christi. Let us for the present, pay the tribute of our loving adorations to our Jesus, the Living Bread, that gives life to the world. Let us acknowledge His immense love for His Sheep. He seems to be on the point of leaving them that He may return to His Father, and yet His love retains Him among them by means of this august Mystery in which He is truly though invisibly present.
