Transcript of Abbot Clement's Homily on Holy Thursday, April 8, 2004
When we, the Church gather to
proclaim the Word it is not to remember past events but to proclaim the mighty
acts of God! When we listen to today's first reading from the book of Exodus we
are proclaiming God's mighty deeds to people of Israel. I want to focus on this
text of Exodus to proclaim God's mighty deeds this evening.
First we see the Passover is a family feast. After the Lamb is slaughtered in the Temple the lamb that was slain is taken home and the Seder Meal follows. The blood sprinkled on the Lintels of the door protect the people from the angel of death just as it did for the people of Israel when they were in Egypt. For Egypt, that same night spelled the power of death, of destruction, of chaos; things that continually arise from the depths of the earth and man, that threaten the world and reduce it to an uninhabitable wilderness. In this situation it is the home, the family that protects from chaos. The world and creation are always in need of protection, shielding, renewal, a space for security and growth.
In the time of Jesus the Passover was celebrated in homes and families. In fact the whole city was considered under the protection of the blood on the lintels and no one was allowed to leave the city on the night of the Passover meal. The place of salvation was within the city walls. Each Jew had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to renew his nation's foundations, and tap into it's origins. This hides a profound truth. The nation could disintegrate from without or within. There were destructive forces that disintegrated the nation.
Jesus celebration of the Passover with his new family of apostles and followers was observing the current regulations of pilgrims gathering into a Passover unit, called a habhuroth. And by the consecration of the bread and wine it became a Christian feast. We are Christ's habhuroth, his family, his pilgrim friends who follow him along the gospel path through history.
The Church the new family fulfills all that Jerusalem signified, the living home that banishes the powers of chaos and provides a space of peace and security which upholds creation and us. The Church is the new city by being the family of Jesus and her faith is the ramparts and walls against the chaotic powers that bring destruction on the world. It is strengthened by the Blood of the true Lamb, Jesus Christ. It is this Love which is the counter force to chaos, a love that is a love to the end and endless. It is this power that reestablishes the world anew, providing new foundations for peoples and families thus giving us "shalom" well-being, a realm of peace that in which we can live with and for one another.
For many reasons, we need to look closely at these factors in our time and respond to them. We are experiencing the chaotic primal powers rising up in our world. Our so called progressive society that seems to know everything and can do anything, forces arise to attack the very progress we are so proud of. In the midst of our prosperity, technological development and scientific domination of the world, a nation can be destroyed from within, we see how creation can be threatened by chaotic powers which lurk in the depths of the human heart. We are also aware that neither money, technology, or organization alone can banish the chaos. Only the real protective wall given us by the Lord, the new family he has created for us can do this. The Passover handed down to us by way of Israel and through Christ has an eminent political significance. The Christian Passover keeps us in touch with our spiritual roots and protects us from being lost in self-destruction.
The Christian Passover, the mass
is a summons urgently reminding us that the family is the living home in which
humanity is nurtured which banishes chaos and futility and must be protected as
such. But we must add that the family can only be this bastion for creation, an
effective space for humanity, if it is under the banner of the Lamb. It must be
protected by the Blood of the Lamb, the power of faith that comes from the Love
of Jesus Christ.
Finally Jesus after the Passover got up and went out and overstepped the bounds
of the law by going through the Kidron valley outside the boundaries of the city
of Jerusalem. He went out into the night and he did not fear the chaos, did not
hide from it, but rather he plunged into its deepest point, the jaws of death.
And so we leave Mass, we who are the company of Jesus and in his company we go
out not afraid of the chaos because he is the stronger one. He went out and we
go out with him. Filled with faith, a faith based on this Love of Jesus. We go
out to build places of faith and love in the midst of the chaotic world in the
power of Jesus Christ. Jesus went out into the night of Gethsemani, the cross
and the grave. He is the stronger one who stands up to and overcomes the strong
man.. .death. This sacrament of Love, God's Love, which is God's power is
stronger than the powers of destruction.
Jesus' going out onto the path of the Passion holds within it the mystery of Easter Joy. Jesus is the stronger man, there is no power that can withstand him now; no place wherein he can not be found. He dares us the follow him on this path. For where his Passover is celebrated he is there and he accompanies those who live in faith and love. Where faith and love are, He is there and the power of his peace overcomes nothingness and death.
There are many examples of this in our Christian history. I select a current one. Jerry Smith felt called to the missions. He was leaning to Central America but he heard a call to go to Mongolia. He had no idea what he was to do. When he arrived his guide took him to the post office and while there a little toddler, maybe 4 or 5 years old, in rags and dirty tugged on his pants . He asked his guide, whose child is this. He received the answer he is a sewer child. He said take me to see them. After his visit he knew what the Lord was asking. Within the year he had a home, a team and 60 children rescued from the chaos of conditions in that city of Mongolia. Where faith and love are Jesus is there and the power of his peace overcomes nothingness and death.