Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 44 / Maundy Thursday

Stepping into the sacred space of Maundy Thursday, we explore the profound moments that transformed human history—the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood during the Last Supper. As Jesus took bread and wine, declaring "This is my Body" and "This is my Blood," He established a perpetual miracle of love that continues on altars worldwide.

The liturgy of Holy Thursday beautifully balances joy and sorrow. We begin with celebration—white vestments, flowers adorning the altar, the Gloria sung with organ accompaniment, and bells ringing joyfully. Yet this happiness gives way as the Blessed Sacrament is moved to the altar of repose, the church emptied, and the altar stripped—powerful symbols foreshadowing Christ's passion. The faithful are invited to keep vigil in prayer until midnight, when even this access is withdrawn as Jesus enters His imprisonment.

This episode takes an unexpected personal turn as I share the story of Father Raymond Zweber, the priest who rushed to baptize me as a premature infant in an incubator on Thanksgiving Day. His quiet faith, demonstrated through tears during Stations of the Cross and years of faithful service, shaped my Catholic identity in profound ways. On this day dedicated to the priesthood, I invite you to remember and pray for the priests who've administered sacraments in your life—baptism, confession, communion. Their hands have literally brought Christ to you. Whether you're able to attend Mass today or simply make a spiritual communion, let's honor these sacred institutions that continue to nourish our faith journey through the centuries.

Chapters

• 0:00 Lenten Meditation for Maundy Thursday
• 3:34 The Mass, Eucharist and Priesthood
• 9:58 Holy Thursday Traditions and Symbolism
• 12:50 Resolutions for Holy Thursday
• 15:17 Personal Story of Baptism and First Priest

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:50

Sancte eterni. Sancte amare morti decladas nos In teispera verum. Good morning everyone, and welcome to our reading and meditation for this, the 44th day of Lent. It is Maundy Thursday. Holy Thursday today. It is Maundy Thursday, holy Thursday today. And today we will be reading and meditating upon the Mass, the Eucharist and the priesthood. Excuse me so, without further ado, I'm going to throw up our image on screen and we are going to get into this today. So, without further ado, here here we go.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Holy Thursday the Mass, the Eucharist and the Priesthood. From the words of consecration this is my body, this is the chalice of my blood. Do this in memory of me. Jesus has just finished consuming the Paschal lamb. When he takes bread, breaks it and gives it to his disciples, saying Take all of you and eat of this, for this is my body. Then, taking a chalice of wine, he says Take all of you and drink of this, for this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal testament, shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins. At that very instant, jesus becomes sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine. By the separate consecration of the body and the blood, he effects a sacrifice. On this day, therefore, we are at the heart of the mystery of our salvation. We are at the heart of the redemption. There is nothing greater, no more important event in all the history of humanity than this sacrifice of Jesus, and the most marvelous is that our Lord willed that this moment be not only commemorated but re-actualized, that he be made present anew on our altars.

Speaker 1: 3:56

At each Mass, the priest renews the unique redemptive sacrifice, so that the merits of this sacrifice might be applied to our souls as well as to those of the faithful, living and dead. O Jesus, what a miracle of love Thou hast worked beyond all imagining. Thine apostles make their first communion on this day. They also receive the priesthood from Thine hands. They have passed it on from generation to generation, to all of the bishops, their successors and, through them, to all of the priests. I thank thee for having willed to remain with us in the Holy Eucharist and for having given us priests and now a prayer from St Teresa of Avila. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen. O Eternal Father, thy Divine Son has done all that could be done in granting this great gift of the Eucharist to us poor sinners Mercifully prevent His being so ill-treated. May this precious oblation prevent the spread of the terrible wickedness and sacrileges committed against the most blessed sacrament. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Both of our thoughts for the day come from St John Vianney. The first thought come to communion, Come to Jesus, come to live of Him in order to live for him. And our second thought today, the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. We have two resolutions. Our first resolution to receive communion with fervor and today, if possible, or at least to make a spiritual communion. Our second resolution to recite in our Father and three Hail Marys for the priests who baptized us, gave us our first communion and ordinarily administer to us the sacraments.

Speaker 1: 6:57

Okay, that is over some of the the liturgy for holy week and stuff like that. So he does have a little section on holy thursday which I'll read here. I'm not going to throw up our image back on screen, but holy thursday. It is important to tell the children ahead of time that Holy Thursday is a day when joy is definitely present, though it will not last for long. There are flowers on the altar, white vestments singing of the Gloria, accompanied by the organ in the joyful caroling of the bells. As a family, it is important to express the joy of this day in a concrete manner, by a good dessert at the main meal, for example, or by some other treat. May parents not hesitate to explain the symbolism of the washing of the feet. It is by the love that you have for one another that all will recognize that you are my disciples. Let him who is greatest among you become the servant From the Gospels of John and Gospels of Luke there. May parents explain also that this joy at the beginning of the Mass will give way to sorrow.

Speaker 1: 8:23

After the Blessed Sacrament has been placed on the altar of repose, our Lord is taken away from us. The church remains empty. The altar, which is the symbol of Christ, is stripped, just as Jesus is stripped of his garments before being crucified. During the stripping of the altar, we sing Psalm 21 with the antiphon. They divided my garments among them and upon my vesture they cast lots. It is good to explain to the children that the holy sacrifice is interrupted until Jesus Christ emerges living from his tomb on Easter night, our Lord is removed from all the tabernacles of the world. Our churches are empty. Of course, they are still places that help us pray, but without the divine presence. Finally, the children should learn that the faithful take turns during this night, going to pray before the altar of repose, but only until midnight. After that, because Jesus is imprisoned, no one may draw near him anymore.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Okay, so there's the little reading there on Holy Thursday. So there's the little reading there on Holy Thursday. Let me get back to the stuff for Holy Thursday. There we are. Yeah, so Maundy Thursday, diane, holy Thursday. Yeah, so make it to the Holy Thursday liturgy, if you at all can Receive communion with fervor today, if you can. If you can't make a spiritual communion, I like the resolution here to pray for the priests who baptize us and gave us our first communion and confession.

Speaker 1: 10:36

Um, you know, today is the, the, the memorial for the, you know, institution of the priesthood, and you know, thinking back, there have been priests that have been huge parts of my life. You know, the priest who baptized me and gave me my first communion was an enormous part of my life, enormous part of my life. Um, you know he. Uh, so I. So I was actually born um 10 to 12 weeks early. Um, yeah, I was born at like 28 to 30 weeks, something like that. I was supposed to be born like around Valentine's day and was actually born on Thanksgiving Day. And so our priest rushed out to the hospital on Thanksgiving Day to baptize me while I was in an incubator, to baptize me while I was in an incubator. Um, so he, yeah, he rushed out on Thanksgiving day to baptize me in case I didn't make it. And then later on, after you know I, I came home. I was in the incubator for a month, um, but after I, I came home, you know, and and was was healthy.

Speaker 1: 12:10

Um, um, he did a conditional baptism publicly for the family and everything. But, yeah, he was the same priest that I had for First Communion. He gave me my first confession and he was a huge part of our family's lives and I thank God for him very often. Um, you know, he's the one who taught me to, to, to serve at the altar. Um, I served many masses with him. He's the one who who gave me my love for stations of the cross.

Speaker 1: 12:52

Um, you know, we, I'd be serving stations with him, you know, and I, whether I was, uh, holding, uh, one of the two candles or, you know, was carrying the crucifix, um, you know, we'd be standing next to him as we went from station to station. And you know, he was this, this older, very quiet, um, old German priest. You know, he, he, he always reminded me a lot of my grandpa, because both him and my grandpa spoke with just just the slightest accent, right, the slightest like German accent, um, because they had both spoken German growing up at home, you know, before they learned English, um, but so he was this older german guy and, uh, he, he never said a lot through words, like not even in his homilies. His homilies were very, very short and to the point, but he communicated very well through his mannerisms and how he held himself and things of that nature. But we'd be doing stations and we'd be moving from station to station and throughout the stations, um, he would actually get quieter. But that was because, you know, you could only see this if you were up close near to him. But he, you would start to tear up during stations every time and you could see how much, um, how much he was moved by the passion and and, like I said, it was every time.

Speaker 1: 14:29

We did stations, you know, and we did stations twice a week during lent. It was once on wednesday, which was the night our CCD program met, so he did stations for all the kids going to CCD, and then he did stations on Friday night like normal. So there were some weeks I served stations twice with him, but every time we did stations, you know, it was by the time Jesus fell at, you know, at least by the second time he had tears in his eyes every time and he, he, he taught me a lot about what it meant to, uh, to grow up a Catholic. So so, if you could, please pray for Father Raymond Zweber. It was really cool.

Speaker 1: 15:29

A year or two ago, someone reached out to me on Twitter with his last name, which is not a common last name was a great-nephew of his who was actually about to be ordained a priest and was just looking for more info about his great-uncle, because he grew up knowing his great-uncle, of course, and wanted to know what kind of priest he was. So it was awesome it was. It was awesome to to talk to him and tell him what kind of man his, his great uncle was, what kind of priest. His great uncle was Um, so that was really rewarding. But uh, yeah, sorry to kind of get off the rails there on that. But anyways, a long story, short, short. Pray for the priest who made an impact on you in your life. Pray for them today, receive communion today, pray at the altar of repose tonight before midnight of course, and prepare for the passion tomorrow. But anyways, thank you all. I hope you all have a great day today, on Maundy Thursday. Remember to have a little joy today and tomorrow. We will see you for Good Friday, thank you.