Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 9, 2020 - 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 day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution." [Exodus] "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." Fpr as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. [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]
Holy Thursday is about remembering. The scripture from Exodus recalls God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This remembrance is called "the Passover." The celebration of this holy day formed the context for what we call "the Last Supper." The unleavened bread and the cup of wine were and still are part of the "Seder Meal" that is the act of remembrance of deliverance. When Jesus gives us his Body and Blood, he gives his entire self to us in an act of deliverance. St. Paul reminds us that when we do this in remembrance of Jesus, we do it in remembrance not so much of the Last Supper but of the death and resurrection of Jesus, which was an act of deliverance and salvation.
However, there is more to the remembrance than the bread and wine. Jesus gave us something else to remember him by - his act of self-giving in washing the feet of the disciples. There is no mention of the bread and wine in the account of the Last Supper in the Gospel According to John. The significance of those appears earlier in Chapter 6!!! What the evangelist presents for our remembrance is Jesus' act of self-giving in washing the feet of the disciples and his command (called "the Mandatum") that the disciples do the same. We may not commemorate this ritually at every celebration of the Eucharist, but we celebrate it every time we serve one another in faith and charity!! Which way do we remember Jesus? Do we remember the last Mass we attended? Do we remember the last time someone did something out of love to help us? Both "remembrances" are important, so that we do not isolate the celebration of the Lord's Supper solely to what we receive in communion, but rather we remember that in receiving the Lord, we also receive his "Mandatum" to serve others in his name. The celebration of Holy Thursday is a reminder of what we should be doing year round. AMEN