Eucharist. Thanksgiving.

Holy Thursday. Yes, my favorite night of the entire year, during the most sacred week of the year.

Why?

Tonight we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist - of the Holy Mass... and of the holy priesthood. It holds additional meaning for me, because Holy Thursday was also the night my mom was received into the Church - twenty years ago. I still remember the smell of the sacred chrism oil on her head that night - the first time I ever smelled it (well, aside from my Baptism, but I definitely don't remember that!).

What an amazing and holy night! We are given this night to remember the gift of the Eucharist - in Greek, eucharistia - which means "thanksgiving."

Thanksgiving. Eucharist. We give thanks for the gift of thanksgiving. We give thanks for the gift of Christ's death and resurrection, without which we would not have this gift of thanksgiving. We give thanks that we are followers of a God who loved us so much, he was willing to suffer a horrendous death to be our salvation. And we give thanks that, facing the death he was to endure, understanding fully our human weakness, our God left himself for us in the Eucharist, to give us strength and grace through this remembrance - this thanksgiving.

And we give thanks for the gift of the priesthood - that in the institution of the Eucharist this night, Christ also passed to his apostles the gift of being able to carry on the celebration of thanksgiving, the Eucharist - and that they, in turn, passed on that gift to men called to the holy priesthood, down to this very day.

The priesthood is holy, and it is important. Yes, there are those who have abused the gift, some in terrible ways - but we have to draw the distinction between the gift, and those who receive it. The gift is divine. The receivers are human, fallible. It does not excuse the sins of those who act wrongly, but it should serve to remind us that, even when we are given incredible gifts, we all still choose whether to use them for good, or to abuse them for our own ends. Period.

The priesthood is a beautiful, incredible gift. It calls men to be an "alter Christus," another Christ - and how many of these men have I known, who have truly been another Christ, for me and those around me? Far more than those who have abused that gift. More than I can count on both hands, and honestly, more than I can really recall. In addition to that supreme gift of celebrating the Eucharist, they have given me counsel, forgiven my sins, anointed me in sickness, presided at my wedding, and shared in many other joys and sorrows. They have been, and continue to be, a blessing to me. I love them, and I pray for them. And I think that's something we all too often forget - to pray for our priests. Yes, the gift of priesthood is an amazing, indescribably beautiful gift - but it is still a gift given to human beings - fallible, imperfect human beings - who are constantly in need of God's grace, help, protection - all of those things, and more. They are indeed in need of our prayers.

So this night, give thanks for the gift of thanksgiving - the gift of the Eucharist. And give thanks for our priests, who bless us with the celebration all the sacraments, and most importantly, the Holy Mass - by the grace of Christ, we are still blessed with the gift of thanksgiving - of doing this "in memory of Me."

"Our blessing cup, is a communion with the blood of Christ."