Deacon Tom Anthony

A VERY SURPRISING HOLY THURSDAY

We were all given a very special gift with Father Andreas coming to the prison this past Thursday. Father Andreas used to volunteer at the prison, coming once a month to celebrate Spanish Mass. He was then transferred to a different parish that was not nearby and was unable to continue with the commitment he made. It had been over a year since Father Andreas last came to the prison when I met him at his new parish one morning. I invited him to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at the prison and he readily agreed. I did not expect him to come on a day that was traditionally busy for any Roman Catholic Priest assigned to a city parish such as his.

What we were all given, gathering together to celebrate the Last Supper of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Institution of the Priesthood, and the Institution of the Eucharist, was an example of sacrifice and thoughtfulness. Father Andreas drove for forty minutes to arrive at the prison immediately following a funeral that he presided at. He then offered to listen to the Confessions of the inmates; spending over forty-five minutes counseling and sitting with them. He told me that he did not want to rush the mass and the time he had with them

When I planned the Holy Thursday Mass, I was expecting Father Andreas to arrive at 1:00 pm, start mass at 1:30 pm, and leave by 2:30 while there was Adoration for another hour. I did not want to encroach on his other plans for the day especially when he was concelebrating later that day at his parish so I tried to make it as easy as possible for him. What I didn’t expect was what he did for the inmates and me. He gave us all something very special in the way he ministered to the community. It was with love and with a love for what he was doing. It was as if his busy schedule did not exist. All that mattered were the inmates before him.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation was only the beginning. His Homily was in-depth and thoughtful. And when he kneeled to wash the feet of the inmates, they all were humbled by the concentration and care he took washing each of the inmates’ feet. He lowered himself to the position of a slave. The point wasn’t lost on the inmates. Every movement and every word from father Andreas was with love and with a purpose.

At the end of mass, Father Andreas asked if he could stay for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until the Eucharist was reposed. To watch him perform his office was to watch someone who was a true Servant of Christ. From the moment he arrived until he left Father Andreas made Holy Thursday beautiful and memorable.

Deacon Tom