PHOTOS: Archbishop Golka Celebrates First Holy Thursday in Denver
- André Escaleira, Jr.
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Just as Jesus stooped low to wash the apostles’ feet, Denver’s new archbishop said in his homily during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, each Christian is called, commanded, to love neighbor.
Imagine, for a moment, Jesus’ Last Supper. An evening meal pre-electricity, it would have been rather dark. The desert of the Holy Land might have gotten chilly. The hustle and bustle of the Jerusalem metro would have come to a silent halt.
On this night, Archbishop James Golka noted in his first Holy Thursday homily as Archbishop of Denver, as Jesus and his disciples gathered to celebrate the Passover meal, the Lord of Lords knew everything that was going to happen. He knew Judas would betray him. He knew “it was demanded he crawl upon a cross.” He knew “darkness was coming to suffocate him.”
“You could just feel darkness closing in on them. In fact, darkness had already gotten into the inner circle because Judas was ready to betray him.”
So, Jesus had several options: he could have run or revolted, to name but two.
“And what did he do?” he asked. “He launched his revolution, his counterattack, by getting down on his knees and washing feet. That was his revolution.”
(Photos by Dan Petty/Denver Catholic)
A revolution indeed, the divine Son of God stooped low to wash the feet of sinful, imperfect humanity. What a scandalous act! But as a bright spot on a dark night, “that simple act can still change you and me and change the world,” Archbishop Golka said.
“Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. He loved you to the End,” he continued. “You can sense that at this point in the story, we're standing on very holy ground. The hour that has come, the Cross, the Eucharist, the priesthood, the very being and power of God revealed in humility and service and love. We have an incredible God.”
And at the core of the identity of that God is a profound charity, a deep love, the archbishop noted.
“God is self-giving, sacrificial love, because he wants to find us, conquer us in love, unite us, redeem us and save us,” Archbishop Golka said. “It's not about you, and it's not me, but we are sinners who need Christ to wash our feet. Christ wants to claim you and come into your life in an even more powerful way.”
Thanks be to God, he noted, God takes the initiative in this redemption through his life, death and Resurrection. He takes the initiative, too, in our sanctification through the Eucharist, in which today he left us his abiding presence with us. All out of a deep, abiding love for each of us.
“What we receive in the Eucharist is Christification. We get to be like Jesus. We get to share in divine life because that divine life wants to crawl into your life,” Archbishop Golka explained. “And as I said the other day, when you come forward to receive Holy Communion, don't just give Jesus permission to come into your life, give him permission to change your entire life, to take over your life if he wants to do so.”
That Christification can well be seen in the clergy by the archbishop's side, he noted. Those who have become conformed to Christ through their ordinations image him in a particular way. Like Jesus, who instituted the priesthood at the Last Supper, the archbishop explained, they lay down their lives in service of his people.
"Everything that people up here do is for you," he said, pointing to Cardinal James Stafford and Bishop Jorge Rodríguez, as well as the priests concelebrating and the deacons assisting at Mass. "It's for the people of God. We would do anything for your salvation. Christ did everything for our salvation, so tonight we just let him do it again in us."
As we allow Jesus to accomplish his work in us — to make us ever more like him — we must realize that Christification is not optional, however, the archbishop emphasized. The mandatum, or command, of Holy Thursday is to go and do likewise. If Jesus, the eternal, divine Son of God, can love us enough to wash our feet, who are we not to do the same for our neighbor?
“Call to mind the love you have given away today. Ask the Lord to shine light on places where maybe we failed to love,” Archbishop Golka challenged. “And, as we wash feet and receive the Holy Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to walk with him tomorrow to his death and to wait in hope for his Resurrection.”
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Archbishop James Golka will continue his first Sacred Triduum as Archbishop of Denver, celebrating the various liturgies at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. To join him in prayer, see the schedule below:
Friday, April 3:
Way of the Cross with Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement, through downtown Denver, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Colorado Veterans’ Monument across from the Capitol building, between N. Lincoln St. and N. Broadway.
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 4:
The Great Vigil of Easter at 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 5:
Easter Sunday Mass at 10:30 a.m.
