Homily of Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday, April 9, 2020 “Ubi Caritas et Amor, Ibi Deus Est,” goes one of the oldest of all Holy Thursday hymns. It is from St. John the Evangelist: it means, literally, where charity and love is, there God is. Springing out of the Sacred Heart of Jesus officiating at the sacred meal, wrapping around the table of the Last Supper and intertwined throughout that altar of the first-ever Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the charity and undying love of Our Savior towards all his disciples that goes out to the ends of the earth: towards you and me in the outpouring of His love and care in instituting the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood. It all flows from Jesus but to each of His apostles and to each of us. On this day commemorating the institution the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in this season as we take care to have safe social distancing, it is beneficial to recall how the kiss of peace, the true name of what we call the sign of peace, is an integral part of the Mass. It flows from the love of Christ, like the source of a fountain bubbling up and flowing over to all in communion with Him. It is the embrace of Christ we give each other, not our own. It takes a participation in a monastic Mass that helps ground us in the reality of how the kiss of peace springs from Christ. In the Mass at a monastery, the kiss of peace originates with the priest who is main celebrant. It is first of all a turning away from ourselves—not like sin which is a turning away from God—and, as well, a turning towards another. It is first an acknowledgement of the other as neighbor. Acting in persona Christi, the celebrant, literally acting in the person of Christ, first bows to the deacon, who bows simultane- ously to the priest and then the priest embraces the deacon by his side with both arms around the other’s shoulders. The deacon simultaneously reciprocates the embrace. Symbolically one or both cheeks of each person are nearly swiped by the other. Some monks then bow again in respect to the other to conclude the kiss of peace. After the initial embrace, the deacon — ordained to take the word of God to the people and to bring them the charity of Christ — goes to the first row of choir stalls and embraces the monk on the end who in turn embraces the next monk in the row, who in turn embraces the next one, down the line. Meanwhile the deacon goes to the Homily of Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday, April 9, 2020 first monk in each other row and starts the kiss of peace so that the kiss of peace originates in the Mass from the celebrant who represents Christ and it goes out to everyone in the choir stalls. Hence the kiss of peace comes to each of us from Christ, via or through our neighbor. It is a much more powerful symbol of what the liturgical action conveys than what we in 21st century America experience at most Masses. No words are used, only the kiss of peace in an embrace. Again, it all flows from Jesus but to each of us via our neighbor so that we recognize that we are to be Christ to one another in union of heart with one another in Christ. In this day, in this stark world we refrain from embraces and kisses for fear of contagion. Fear rules our physical actions, but we should not, however, withhold our hearts from embracing by other actions of charity we can do, our sisters and brothers who are neighbors to us. As we refrain from the kiss of peace in the Masses we experience let us do so mourning for those times we have turned aside and away from Christ, away from God and from our neighbor. We recall in turning away from God those times we have betrayed him with our actions like how on this night Judas Iscariot betrayed Our Lord with a kiss. For all our individual and collective betrayals of our Christian life and of those in need, for failing to see in each of them Our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask forgiveness and repent. We long like Jesus did to wash away any dirt from other’s feet, and, as is often depicted of Him, to kiss the feet of those cleansed in Christ. We do this today only in our prayers: lifting up those who are bowed down with burdens and who are less fortunate than we are, and those who struggle in their faith. We do this in humble reception of their worth in God’s and our eyes and in recognition that we are all to walk in the path and pure light of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, ubi caritas et amor, ibi Deus est! .