On Maundy Thursday, approximately 120 indigenous children received their First Holy Communion at Mother Mary Parish in Umerkot, located in the interior of Sindh province in southeastern Pakistan, near the border with India.
Archbishop Simon Poh led the Maundy Thursday service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Kuching, eastern Malaysia, highlighting the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Presiding over the Chrism Mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Cubao in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, Bishop Elias Ayuban, CMF, called on his clergy to rediscover their identity and mission.
Catholic parishes across West Malaysia and the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak observed Holy Thursday with Maundy Thursday services conducted in multiple languages, including English, Bahasa Malaysia, and local vernaculars such as Iban and Bidayuh.
At the Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV called on priests to bring Christ’s presence into places marked by suffering and despair, urging them to “spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns,” Vatican News reported.
The Catholic Church in Bangladesh observes Priest Day on Holy Thursday, commemorating the institution of the priesthood and reminding the faithful of Christ’s call to serve through humility, sacrifice, and love.
Food is a gift of the earth and of God. Every meal can become an act of gratitude when we remember that all we receive comes from His hands. Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is a powerful reminder of this truth.
Holy Thursday, then, is not mere commemoration. It is a return to something fragile and immense, a mystery placed into the care of men who remain, unmistakably, human.
