Holy Thursday: The Institution of the Eucharist

Image captured from The Passion of the Christ

The Holy Thursday liturgy is rich and full of many symbols and teachings. One element of the events of the evening that is often overlooked is that it is the night in which our Lord instituted the priesthood and the sacrament of the Eucharist. While it may sound grammatically incorrect to include the two institutions (Priesthood and Eucharist) as one element, I think it is fitting because we can not have the Eucharist without the priesthood.

St. Josemaria says:

This is the source of the joy we feel on Holy Thursday — the realization that the creator has loved his creatures to such an extent. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as though all the other proofs of his mercy were insufficient, institutes the Eucharist so that he can always be close to us. We can only understand up to a point that he does so because Love moves him, who needs nothing, not to want to be separated from us. The Blessed Trinity has fallen in love with man, raised to the level of grace and made to God's image and likeness. (St Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 84)