Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper 2025
17 April 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Tonight, as we enter into the Sacred Triduum, we take the first step on a holy pilgrimage, a journey into the very heart of our faith. We do not walk alone. We walk together, as the Body of Christ. And we walk with hearts filled with hope, for Jesus Christ, our sacrament of eternal life, never disappoints.
This evening, we gather to remember and to celebrate the gift of the Eucharist, the night when Jesus Christ gave us his very self in the form of bread and wine, transforming them into his Body and Blood. In doing so, Jesus offered more than a meal, he offered a mission, a mystery, and above all, a promise of hope.
Saint Paul recounts in our second reading: “This is my body, which is for you… This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” These are not just words of remembrance. They are a divine act, the institution of a sacrament, an action of God, entrusted to the Church, for the life of the world.
Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, once wrote that a sacrament means: “I give what I myself cannot give; I do something that is not my work; I am on a mission and have become the bearer of that which another has committed to my charge.”
Tonight, Jesus gives what no human being could ever give: his divine life. He does what no one else could do: He bridges heaven and earth. And he sends us on mission, not to be consumers of the sacred, but bearers of it. Eucharistic people. People of hope.
And so, we are united through Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus. As he washed the feet of his disciples, yes, even the feet of the one who would betray him, Jesus showed us what love looks like when it becomes action. Humble, self-giving, unshakable love. Hope made visible.
My sisters and brothers, the Eucharist is not merely something we receive. It is something we become. Jesus did not say, “Take and admire.” He said, “Take and eat.” He draws us into his very life, his passion, death, and resurrection, and he sends us to do likewise: to give, to do, to be.
My dear people, you have heard me say this from the very beginning of this Holy Year, hope is not a vague optimism. It is not wishful thinking. Hope is a person. Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Sacrament of the Father’s mercy. Jesus is the Bread of Life. And in a world that so often feels lost at sea, battered by doubt, fear, and suffering, Jesus is our anchor, our Hope, and Mary, his mother is our Star of Hope.
For over a thousand years, the Church has sung to her: Ave maris stella – Hail, Star of the Sea. She is the one who said “yes,” who opened the door of hope to the world by welcoming the Word made flesh. She is the one who journeys with us still, gently guiding us to her Son.
Tonight, let us ask Mary to walk with us on this sacred journey, from the Upper Room, to Gethsemane, to Calvary, and ultimately to the empty tomb. Let her maternal light be our compass. Let her hope be our strength.
We live in challenging times. Many hearts are heavy. Many lives are marked by sorrow or confusion. But tonight reminds us that God has not abandoned us. Jesus kneels before us. He feeds us with his very life. Jesus entrusts himself into our hands so that we may carry Our Lord into the world.
And so, my dear friends, let us begin this pilgrimage with hearts filled with hope. In this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, might we allow the Eucharist to transform us into bearers of that hope. Let us receive not only Christ’s Body and Blood, but also his mission, to give what we cannot give, to do what is not our own work, and to be what he has called us to be.
This is the mystery of Holy Thursday. This is the grace of the Triduum. And this is our hope, a hope that never disappoints. Amen.