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Holy Thursday, Cycle B
Retreat and Conference Center at Bon Secours
March 29, 2018
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
“Took, Blessed, Broke, and Gave”
“Took, Blessed, Broke, and Gave”
In a few minutes, I will stand here at the altar and lead the Eucharistic Prayer.
I will repeat some words that we have heard very often. The prayer says that Jesus “tookthe bread, blessedit, brokeit and gaveit to his disciples.”
This evening, I am focusing on those four action words. Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave.”
What I am thinking is that Jesus has also takenand blessed, brokenand givenus. Here is what I have in mind.
We Are Taken and Blessed
First, we are takenand blessed.
I remember when I was growing up on Long Island, we would often organize our own baseball games on a nice field in the neighborhood. Each time we did this, two of us would be the manager’s and would take turns choosing players until everyone was taken.
Well, it was a big deal to be takenor chosen first. It meant that you were a good player and it was a real ego-booster.
Thank God, in the end, everyone was taken. No one was left out.
Well, the first thing we have to realize in the spiritual life is that God has takenand blessedeach one of us. God has spoken over us the same words that the Father speaks over Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter.”
In this, God has touched the very core of our being. In and through Jesus, God has made us valued and worthy, wanted and loved.
This is so important for us to know as our foundation for living in today’s world. In our world, our value and worth is often contingent on having sparkling white teeth or owning a BMW or whatever.
But in truth, Jesus assures us that God has already takenand blessedeach one of us. No one is excluded, like on my childhood pick-up baseball games.
What a wonderful sense of self and foundation for living this is for us. God, Jesus has takenand blessedus.
We Are Broken and Given
And then, Jesus has brokenand given us.
Here we have to understand the word brokena little bit differently. Jesus has not really brokenus.
Instead, he wants us to realize that we are broken.We, each one of us, is brokenin at least some way.
We are all brokenbecause we are human. We are incomplete in our own humanity and we are restless for the wholeness that only God can give.
We may be brokenbecause of something that has happened to us or because of an addiction of because of a lost relationship. Or maybe because we feel guilty about something we have done.
So, Jesus wants us to be aware of our brokenness. And then, with that awareness, we can be given.
We can be givenor give of ourselves with compassion and wisdom. We can do this with loved ones, family and friends.
We can do this with others here at the parish or with co-workers at our jobs. And we can do this with those living in or fleeing from desperate situations, persons whom we will never know.
In other words, we will be givenall the more authentically because we know that we ourselves are also broken. That is the richness of these words.
Conclusion
I conclude with this.
At the Last Supper, Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave”the bread to us. He gives us his own body and blood to nourish, strengthen and be with us on our journey.
And he also gives us this bread so that we, in turn, can be bread, a bread of life for the world around us. This will happen as we too realize that we are takenand blessed, brokenand given.
