At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on April 2 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy encouraged Catholics to renew their devotion to the Eucharist, calling it the “most wonderful sacrament Christ has given to us.”
The Holy Thursday liturgy, which marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum, commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. The evening Mass opens the Church’s most sacred period, unfolding the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection as one unified celebration.
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy reflected on the witness of Archbishop Dominic Tang, a Jesuit bishop imprisoned for more than two decades in China for refusing to renounce his faith. The cardinal recounted that during 23 years of isolation and suffering, Bishop Tang identified his greatest hardship not as physical pain, but as the absence of the Eucharist.
“That’s easy,” the cardinal said, quoting Bishop Tang’s response when asked about his greatest suffering. “It was not having the Eucharist in my life.”
The cardinal said Bishop Tang, who was denied the ability to celebrate or receive the Eucharist during his imprisonment, later reflected on how deeply he longed for Christ’s presence in the sacrament and how he came to recognize moments earlier in life when he had taken that gift for granted.
“When we take the Eucharist for granted, we are missing out on the most wonderful sacrament Christ has given to us,” Cardinal McElroy said.
He emphasized that the Eucharist is not only a symbol, but the real presence of Christ, “just as truly as when Christ walked the earth,” and a sign of God’s personal and limitless love for each individual.
“It is, first of all, the real presence of Christ among us — here in this church — just as truly as when Christ walked the earth,” Cardinal McElroy said. “We often think, ‘I wish I could have seen Christ in His earthly life.’ Christ is truly present and equally present here when we celebrate the Eucharist, when we receive the Eucharist, when we pray before the Eucharist. It is that gift of physical and spiritual presence that is among us.”
The Gospel reading for Holy Thursday, which recounts Christ washing the feet of his disciples, points to the sacrificial nature of that love, the cardinal said. That act of humility, he noted, reveals the deeper meaning of the Eucharist as both a gift and a call.
“As Christ has sacrificed for us, so we are called to sacrifice for one another,” he said, adding that receiving the Eucharist carries a responsibility to serve others beyond the walls of the Church.
“We are called to go out into the world … to sacrifice as Christ sacrificed,” Cardinal McElroy said.
The liturgy included the traditional washing of the feet, in which Cardinal McElroy washed the feet of 12 people, recalling Christ’s act of humility and service at the Last Supper. The ritual, known as the Mandatum, reflects Christ’s command to “love one another” and remains one of the most visible signs of service within the liturgy.
The cardinal also highlighted the Eucharist as the source of unity among believers, bringing together people of different backgrounds as “one family of God.” The Mass, celebrated in both English and Spanish, reflected the diversity of the local Church gathered in prayer.
“We bring all of our joys, our hardships, our struggles, our questions, our doubts … and we lay them before the Lord,” he said.
The Mass concluded with a Eucharistic procession to the cathedral’s St. Anthony Chapel, where the Blessed Sacrament was placed in the altar of repose following the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
There, Cardinal Robert McElroy incensed the Eucharist and the altar. As the choir sang a traditional Latin hymn reflecting on the sweetness of the name and presence of Jesus, he stood with his hands clasped at his chest and his eyes closed in prayer. When the hymn concluded, the procession recessed down the aisle.
Those present were invited to remain in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. As the sanctuary was stripped and the lights dimmed, the altar stood bare and the cathedral fell silent.
