Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Holy Thursday - The Mass of the Lord's Supper
[Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15]I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that 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."
"Do this in remembrance of me." Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday are the most sacred days of the liturgical calendar. But there is a reason for this. That reason is found in the words of Jesus, "Do this in remembrance of me." Today we remember the Last Supper in which Jesus literally hands himself over to us. "This is my body that is for you." He also washes the feet of the disciples and says, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher have washed our feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." The "remembrance" is something more than symbolic. It is literal and physical! We are given bread and wine that are Jesus' body and blood in a way that we can consume it. We are commanded to act in the way of Christ through our service of one another - the washing of one another's feet. Our remembrance should not be simply some vague pious thought as we stand in line to receive Christ or a vague altruistic (I've done my good deed for the day!) motivation. It is Christ whom we remember each time we do these things. Today is the day in which we are reminded that we can be "intentional" Catholics and not simply Catholics "by accident of birth/baptism." In the Washing of the Feet at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper and the reception of the consecrated bread and wine we are handed the Lord Himself. Remembrance becomes not simply a mental exercise, but a living reality. It is not just for Holy Thursday but for every day of our lives. AMEN
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