09 April, 2020. Holy Thursday

We are in Holy Week, when we meditate on the final journey of Jesus to his Passion. During this particular Holy Week, while we maintain physical distancing during the pandemic, we are unable to physically meet together in church . . . but let’s remain aware of each other, and pray for each other at the foot of the cross.

1st Reading: Exodus 12:1-2, 11-14

Israel’s departure from Egypt — to be celebrated for all time

A man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labour.. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”

Responsorial: from Psalm 116

Response: Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ

How shall I make a return to the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
Precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will pay
in the presence of all his people.

2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Paul’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper: proclaiming Christ’s saving death in this sacred meal

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Gospel: John 13:1-15

The example of Jesus washing his followers’ feet

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples” feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord-and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”

During the Global Pandemic, O Lord, may your words be on our lips, and in our hearts. May they give us courage and hope – and draw us nearer to you...

We can share in the Last Supper

When Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me!” what did he mean by “THIS”? What did he mean by the symbolism of the broken bread and the shared wine? We need to get behind the standard Catechism formula about the Broken Bread as a sacrifice that transcends time, and think afresh about what Jesus intended by it. The Supper was celebrated in the context of the Jewish Passover meal and tonight’s first reading explains the meaning of this feast. In words and symbols it recalled the greatest saving act of God in the Old Testament, the exodus from Egypt, setting God’s people free from slavery. It opens us up to the idea that God enters our lives to save us and set us free from whatever oppresses us. So “opened up,” we are prepared for the good news that the definitive saving work of God is done in and by Jesus Christ.
This was his supreme “hour”, the high point of his saving work on our behalf, as he prepared to leave this world to return to God the Father. His passion and resurrection were a new EXODUS, forming a new covenant between God and humanity. This EXODUS sets us free from slavery to material things and petty selfishness, in order to live generously, in the image of God. Through utter self-giving, loving-without-limit, Jesus won the power to draw us away from sin and to follow his way of love. Total love animated his sacrifice, and from it he shares his spirit with us. In the Last Supper with his disciples he anticipated his sacrifice and gave himself under the signs of bread and wine. Whenever we celebrate Eucharist together is a living link, joins us with the spirit of Jesus. By it we share in his new exodus, to become as fully  human as God wants us to be.
Like St Peter, we let Jesus wash our feet, accepting his challenge to become servants of each other, like him. His example shows us how to live. He tells us “you too ought to wash one another’s feet.” Our Eucharist is the place from which he sends us out to wash the feet of others, figuratively at least. Genuine Eucharistic piety leads to actual service of others. We must follow his example both at the altar of the Eucharist and at the altar of life.
There is more to the washing of the feet than an example of courtesy and service. It goes to the heart of what Jesus was about, and offers us a clear vision of how we should behave, after sharing in the gift of the Last Supper. In St John’s understanding of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet it was part of what he meant by doing this in memory of me.