Triduum Homilies

Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Vigil

 Holy Thursday (2026)

Audacity in the Upper Room

Msgr Thomas Gervasio

 
When the apostles entered the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover meal, they could never have imagined what was going to transpire. That evening would reveal the audacity of Our Lord—audacity in the sense of boldness and daring.
 
The unsuspecting apostles would think Our Lord audacious in taking bread and wine and to pronounce them to be, no longer ordinary food but his very Body and Blood. How audacious of the Lord, to transform the Passover table around which was celebrated the Old Covenant into the Christian altar around which the Church would gather at every Mass. The apostles perceived only bread and wine but in reality they are the Lord’s Real Presence, body, blood, soul, and divinity—not something but Someone!
 
In his infinite love, Our Lord did not intend that this gift and mystery remain in the Upper Room. He desired that this extraordinary gift—the Holy Eucharist—endure to the end of time. It was Our Lord’s way to remain close to us so that we might know his infinite love—a gift that would nourish, strengthen, heal, and comfort us—the food of eternal life. St. John Chrysostom spoke of the Eucharist as “a gift which angels view with trepidation and which they cannot contemplate without fear because of its splendor. My brothers and sisters, this gift is ours. Let us take care to rouse ourselves from any casual, mechanical, or perfunctory attitude toward this treasure the Lord has audaciously deigned to grant us.
 
The apostles would be the instruments through which the Holy Eucharist is passed down through the ages. Our Lord bids them: “Do this in memory of me.” They entered the Upper Room as ordinary men; they would leave as the first priests of the Lord’s Church. Countless priests would heed this command down through the ages.
 
Yet again we see the audacity of Jesus in entrusting to the apostles and their successors the awesome task of being stewards of the mysteries of God, despite their weakness and failures. Every priest, like every other human being is an “earthen vessel, often fragile, weak, fearful, doubting, always in need of God’s mercy. How audacious, how astounding that the Lord would entrust himself to human beings!
 
May every priest reflect on the dignity of his vocation and be resolved to live it faithfully, selflessly and joyfully. And let the faithful pray fervently for all priests and for an increase in priestly vocations.
 
The apostles would witness the audacity of the Lord when in the course of the evening, he would wash their feet, taking on the role of a slave, the most menial of all tasks. Such an utterly surprising gesture was disconcerting to the brash and bold Simon Peter who sought to preserve Our Lord’s dignity as Lord and Master. The apostles were often interested in being honored but Jesus lowers himself in humility. Discipleship is not about the domination of others or seeking honors, but about stooping low in humble service. It is an attitude that flows from Eucharist. The Sacrament of Love is always linked to his Commandment of Love. It is powerful reminder for us all.
 
Holy Thursday…an evening to be ever grateful for what took place in the Upper Room through the audacity of the Lord who loved us to the end.
 

Good Friday (2026)

The Cross Shows How Far Love Goes

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

 
Saint John Paul II often encouraged us to “seek the face of Christ.” Five hundred years before Christ, Zechariah prophesied “they shall look upon him whom they are pierced.” This is what we do today. But raising our eyes to the cross, we see a face abhorrent and disfigured. We see, to use the words of Isaiah the prophet, “a man of suffering, one of those from whom people hide their faces.” And yet, in faith we know that this is the face of love.
 
Today we shall venerate the cross, for we understand that the greatest symbol of love is not the heart but the cross. From the cross, the Lord says, “You see, I love you with an everlasting love. I am faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.” Everything that occurred on Calvery reveals the mystery of Christ’s love for us. On the cross Jesus has shown us how far God’s love goes.
 
He implored the Father’s forgiveness for his tormentors and executioners. If he could love from the agony of the cross, how is it that I hold on to my resentments? How is it that I find it so difficult to love, to forgive?
 
His love and mercy extended to the repentant thief, a lost and broken man seeking redemption: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” No matter the sin, no matter our condition, turning to him, we too, are always offered a new beginning.
 
Looking down upon his sorrowful mother and John his disciple, Jesus establishes an enduring relationship of love: Woman, behold your Son…Behold your Mother. Mary becomes our Mother and we become her children. What a consolation: she is ours and we are hers. After Jesus himself, we could have no greater companion on our life’s journey!
 
The Lord’s love continues to be revealed in his cry, “I thirst!” His was not only a physical thirst but a yearning for souls, a desire to draw all humanity to himself, a desire to bring us to the glory of heaven. From the worst that humans could do, love is poured out.
 
Brothers and sisters, this is why we dare to speak of today as “Good Friday.” However sorrowful and solemn it is to look upon the disfigured face of the Lord, the cross he endured is also a sign of his infinite love.
 

Solemn Vigil and Easter Sunday

Easter—Hope for Our Future

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio 

 
Being a fan of old movies, I recently came upon the classic, “Easter Parade,” the film where Fred Astaire walks Judy Garland down 5th Avenue singing, “In your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it…” An entertaining musical but a film that has nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter.
 
Yet, on this solemnity of solemnities, the Gospel recounts for us not an Easter “parade” but a “procession,” a procession to the tomb of Jesus, first by Mary Magdalene and the women, then the apostles, John, and Peter. We have a movement toward the place of the dead that is suddenly transformed into the place of light and life, an event that unsettles human logic. Tombstones often bear the inscription, “Here lies” but on Easter we have an epitaph proclaimed by an angel: Not “here lies” but “he is not here.”
 
The Resurrection of Jesus is the be-all and end-all of the Christian faith…the axis around which everything that is Christian turns, the very heart of all we believe and do. Without the resurrection none of it makes a bit of sense. St. Paul expressed it clearly: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain.”
 
The Risen Lord is neither a ghost nor some kind of spirit. What is undeniably clear is that something happened to Jesus—something so extraordinary that those who witnessed it had no suitable way to describe it. It was far beyond their human capacity to understand.
 
The Lord’s risen body is a glorified, trans-physical body that can be touched, that eats and drinks, but that also appears and disappears, unobstructed by barriers. The Lord lives and reigns with a bodily presence, though transformed, no longer conditioned by the limitations of space and time.
 
This is what caused the women, the apostles, and others to be speechless, frightened at first, and then prepared to go the ends of the earth, enduring every hardship even to the point of martyrdom to proclaim the Gospel.
 
Today we rejoice in this central event of history which is also the transformative event of every Christian’s life. The Resurrection helps us see life and death in a new and hope-filled way.
 
Easter changed the inevitability of death into the invincibility of life!
 
While there will be times of darkness and struggles to endure, the crosses of life are not the final word. The Lord’s resurrection is our guarantee of hope for the future and the reason we can sing out: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us, rejoice and be glad.
 
On this holy night we have the added joy of celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, witnessing receptions into the Catholic Church and the receiving of the Holy Eucharist for the first time of the Elect and the candidates who have prepared well for this sacred encounter. With them we rejoice and we thank them for the great “yes” they offer to the Lord by their lives. We meet them now in these rites and rejoice that they join us on the amazing and hope-filled the journey of faith.