Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Holy Thursday: Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper - ABC
[Exod 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; John 13:1-15]"This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me...." "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." [1 Corinthians] "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your 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." [John]
At the Seder Meal which commemorates for Jews the Exodus from Egypt [cf. today's first scripture], there is a ritual role for one of the children to ask the presider. The child asks, "Why are we doing this?" The question is a good one for us Christians as we gather to celebrate all of the Sacred Triduum. For Holy Thursday, the response could be found in Jesus' command, "Do this in remembrance of me!" St. Paul, in today's second scripture, states: "I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you..." The command of the Lord is fulfilled every day except Good Friday in the Catholic church around the world. The Eucharist is the constant "remembrance" of what he has done for us. On Holy Thursday, the church completes the entire gospel picture by performing the "Mandatum," (meaning "command") the washing of the feet (mentioned only by the Gospel of John). This is the reminder by Jesus that the celebration of the Eucharist is more than the consecration of the gifts of bread and wine into his Body and Blood. The Eucharist is the expression of the Body of Christ and the love that its members should show for one another and for all humanity. This is symbolized in the washing of the feet. On a broader level, the celebration of the Eucharist should remind us that we are part of a great history of God's plan of salvation as shown in the account from Exodus.
"Why are we doing this?" The secular world keeps on going while we are at church celebrating these sacred memories! Do we/they know something that we/they don't? Whose witness is more "powerful?" Are we to be seen as simply "commemorating" ancient events that have little relevance to the "global" picture? Is what we are celebrating only an "anniversary?" I would surely hope that isn't so! Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday and Easter have to be more than past events. They have to be present realities and future commitments. The more than 2000 years of remembrance testify to us that each celebration is a foundation for the next. The Eucharist (with the washing of the feet understood) is a present commitment to work toward a better future. That "global reality" cries out for the living faith of committed Christians. If the Eucharist ends at the door of the church, the question, "Why are we doing this?" will leave us wondering. If we, as the Church Fathers of old say, become what we eat in the Eucharist, and celebrate the love that these sacred days call us to, then we become a life-giving power to the world. AMEN
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