When Catholics reflect on Holy Thursday, most minds turn first to the institution of the Holy Eucharist. But as Father Brice Higginbotham explained on Morning Air, Holy Thursday also reveals something inseparable from that mystery: the institution of the priesthood.

At the Last Supper, Jesus did not simply give His Apostles a memory to cherish. He gave them a command: “Do this in memory of me.” In that moment, Father Brice said, Christ entrusted them with the sacred power to offer the Eucharist, so that bread and wine might become His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The Eucharist and the priesthood, then, were instituted together.

That connection matters because the Eucharist is no ordinary meal. It is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover and the sacrifices that pointed forward to Christ. Jesus is the true Lamb of God, given for the life of the world. In the Mass, Catholics do not merely recall that sacrifice. They enter into it sacramentally.

This is why the priesthood is so essential. As Father Brice put it so plainly: “No priest, no Eucharist.” Christ is the eternal High Priest, and every priest shares in His priesthood in order to bring the sacraments to God’s people. Through priests, the faithful receive the Eucharist, the forgiveness of sins, and the daily care of spiritual fatherhood.

Father Brice also addressed why the priesthood is reserved for men. The Church does not claim that men are holier than women. In fact, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the holiest human person who ever lived. Rather, the Church is bound to the example of Christ, who chose men as His Apostles, and the priest stands sacramentally in the person of Christ the Bridegroom.

Holy Thursday reminds us that Christ did not leave His people empty-handed. He gave us the Eucharist, and He gave us priests to feed His flock.

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