A Streetcar, A Priest, and the World's Greatest Gift

Homily for Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper
Exodus 12.1-8, 11-14 Psalm 116 1 Corinthians 11.23-26 John 13.1-15

The late Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston often told a story about an incident that involved him as a young priest, an incident that changed forever his view of ministry and the sacraments. Walking through the streets of Boston on a cold, icy winter evening, then-Father Cushing heard a commotion up ahead of him. As he got closer, he saw a group of people gathered together, huddled in the winter cold around the body of a man who seemed to be in great pain and agony, lying next to a stopped streetcar. Fr. Cushing rushed over to the crowd and pushed his way past the people, stooping down next to a police officer and doctor who were tending to the injured man. When the doctor saw that a priest had arrived, he told him, “It’s too late for me to do anything Father! You take over.” Fr. Cushing knew exactly what to do, even though he was barely out of seminary. He pulled out his little black book of prayers and the oil of the sick that he always carried with him. He then started to talk to the man lying in the street. “My son,” the priest said, “are you of the Catholic faith?” “Yeah, yeah …” came the response. The priest continued: “Do you know that you are a sinner against God?” “Uhuh, yeah …” It was clear that the end was near, so Fr. Cushing hurried along, confident that he would get through all the words in his prayer book. He asked the dying man, “Do you believe in the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?” And the questions went on.*

Years later, Cardinal Cushing reflected back on that night with the dying man next to the streetcar. The wisdom of age and experience helped him realize that this dying man really didn’t need a quiz on the catechism or a lesson on the Trinity. What he needed was the sacraments; what he needed was God’s grace. What Cardinal Cushing learned over the years was that the sacraments are for dying people. The sacraments are the connection between sinful humanity and our grace-filled God, especially at the most fragile moments of life. And, when it comes down to it, we are all dying – we all need the grace of the Eucharist, the grace of the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation, because our own efforts will never be enough.

St. Paul speaks to that on this holy night. After recalling the words of Christ himself on the night he was betrayed, St. Paul says that “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11.26). What we remember here tonight – the Eucharist, the priesthood, the call to serve one another – all of this has as its purpose proclaiming the death of the Lord. And not just because we are caught up in death, but because we realize that it is only though the death of Christ that our death has any meaning; it is only through the resurrection of Christ that our life has purpose. And when we unite ourselves to the Eucharist, when we unite ourselves to Christ, we become one with him in his dying and rising – we become one with him in the daily struggles of earthly life – we become one with him on our own journeys to death and new life. That’s what the Eucharist is all about, and it’s the greatest gift the world has ever known.

Yes, the catechism is important, the Trinity is important – we need to know the God who made us, the God we worship. But the sacraments are about people – dying people – people who are longing to hear the words of Christ: “This is my body … this is my blood, given up for you.”

* Recorded in The Lord’s Supper, by Martin E. Marty (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1997).