Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 1, 2021 - 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] I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took break, 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." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. [1 Corinthians] "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 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]
When Jews around the world gather to celebrate the Passover meal, a child is chosen to ask why this occasion is different from others. The presider then recounts the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. This is more than reminiscence because Jews have suffered from other Pharaohs through the centuries. In doing this, Jews proclaim the continuity of God's deliverance and the fulfillment of God's command to celebrate the original event while living a present deliverance.
When we Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist, one of the "memorial acclamations" after the consecration of the bread and wine, proclaims: "When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again." These words are taken directly from St. Paul's words, quoted above. When we gather on Holy Thursday, we make a special effort to recall the original celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord while living its meaning every day. Although the pandemic will prevent, in most cases, the re-enactment of the "mandatum (command)" to wash one another's feet, that command remains. The Eucharist means more than consuming the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It means becoming that Body and Blood in service to our neighbor. The Eucharist is not our private personal possession. It is shared in person through Jesus' command at the Last Supper, "Love one another as I have loved you!" [John 13:34]
Holy Thursday reminds us that our commemoration is more than reminiscence. It means "living memory" that springs from the original event as a living force along with Good Friday and Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. We celebrate not only the past but the present and future of God's providential plan. AMEN