Homily for Holy Thursday

The main sign or trait of a Christian should be selfless love. This is because Christ works through every Christian person, and His most important trait is love.

For Christ, love isn’t just about feeling good or having good intentions; it’s about giving yourself to others. Love involves action and sacrifice and can sometimes be difficult or painful. He shows this through His suffering and death. If this is what love means for Christ, it is also what love means for us as Christians. If we want to follow Him and be part of God’s family, we must try to follow His example. He said, "I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

We come together today because we believe in Jesus and want to follow Him. We want to improve our own lives and the lives of those around us. Sometimes, we forget how simple this can be. Christ’s way to change the world and improve our lives is through selfless love; it’s like washing each other’s feet, in a way. If we follow that idea, everything else will come together for us and our community.

As we take Holy Communion today, our Lord will renew His promise to us. He will cleanse our hearts and fill us with His strength. How should we respond? What does He want us to do? He wants us to be like Him in our thoughts and actions.

Many of us can think of someone suffering or losing hope, someone who needs to feel that God knows and loves them.

So, imitating Jesus could be as simple as visiting a sick relative. It might mean inviting someone who has stopped coming to church to join us for Mass, or it might be about starting to forgive someone we have been upset with.

If we ask the Holy Spirit for help, He will show us many ideas and opportunities. Is there a better way to celebrate this Holy Triduum? Is there anything that would please our Lord more? Let us ask Jesus for the strength to be His true disciples and to love more like Him. Let’s also promise that from now until Easter Sunday and beyond, we will try to do for someone else what He has done for us.