# Holy Thursday: share this nourishment
*2017-04-13*

> Bill Young reflects on the significance of Holy Thursday, the institution of the Eucharist, and the urgent need to share the truth of the afterlife with those who do not believe.

## The Risk of Indifference

I recently had a conversation with a coworker who is seventy years old. He told me that he doesn't like to think about heaven, hell, or the afterlife. It reminded me of my own son, who also struggles to believe in these things. I posed a theory to my coworker: if he is right and there is no afterlife, then nothing happens when we die. But if I am right and there is a God, a heaven, and a hell, then the stakes are eternal. 

I believe it is better to err on the side of caution. If we love our children and grandchildren, we have a responsibility to tell them the truth. Otherwise, we risk leaving a legacy where future generations are lost because they were never taught to seek God. As an analyst for a government agency for many years, I have always relied on facts. In my own life, I have experienced facts of the spiritual world—feelings of peace and glory shared by my wife and sister—that cannot be dismissed as mere accidents. God wants us to know the truth.

## The Responsibility to Share

Today is Holy Thursday, the celebration of the Last Supper. We are called to 'share this nourishment.' In the Gospel, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man ignored the beggar at his gate and ended up in hell, while Lazarus was comforted in heaven. When the rich man begged for his brothers to be warned, he was told they already had the prophets. 

I feel a deep responsibility to share this nourishment with everyone. I think of St. Faustina, who was shown that many people in hell ended up there because they simply did not believe hell existed. We must believe in the reality of heaven and hell, and we must start with the Ten Commandments and the command to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot simply ignore these truths; we must think about them because any one of us could be called home at any moment.

## From Love to Service

Reflecting on the writings of Pope Francis in 'Lent: Time of Grace,' we look at the washing of the feet. When Peter resisted, Jesus told him, 'Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with me' (John 13:8). This teaches us that the love of God breaks through our indifference. We can only bear witness to what we have experienced ourselves. 

The Eucharist is the ultimate example of love becoming service. Jesus gives Himself to us as food so that we may be strengthened to serve the weakest among us. The more we unite ourselves to Christ through prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments, the more we grow in the joy of cooperating with God's kingdom of mercy, truth, justice, and peace.

## A Prayer for the Unbelieving

It hurts my soul to see so many non-believers and atheists around us. I pray for them—for the Jewish family, the skeptics, and those who are afraid to think about eternity. I pray that the Holy Spirit opens their eyes and puts these thoughts in their minds so they can tell their children that there is a God and a way to please Him. 

As I prepare for the Holy Thursday Mass, I look forward to the reenactment of the washing of the feet, reminding us that we are called to be servants to one another. I remember the overwhelming sense of heaven and earth becoming one that I felt during the canonization of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Rome. I ask St. Mother Teresa to pray for all those who do not yet believe.

*We must move from indifference to action, accepting Christ's service so that we may share the nourishment of faith and the hope of heaven with others.*