The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to follow Jesus on the journey of the Triduum (the three days) from the Lord’s Supper, through the Cross, to Resurrection.
In the reading from the Book of Exodus, the First Passover is instituted.
* [12:1–20] This section, which interrupts the narrative of the exodus, contains later legislation concerning the celebration of Passover.
* [12:2] As if to affirm victory over Pharaoh and sovereignty over the Israelites, the Lord proclaims a new calendar for Israel. This month: Abib, the month of “ripe grain.” Cf. 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Dt 16:1. It occurred near the vernal equinox, March–April. Later it was known by the Babylonian name of Nisan. Cf. Neh 2:1; Est 3:7. (Exodus, CHAPTER 12, n.d.)
Psalm 116 is a thanksgiving for recovery from illness.
* [116:13] The cup of salvation: probably the libation of wine poured out in gratitude for rescue, cf. Ex 25:29; Nm 15:5, 7, 10.
* [116:15] Dear in the eyes of the LORD: the meaning is that the death of God’s faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death, cf. Ps 72:14. In Wis 3:5–6, God accepts the death of the righteous as a sacrificial burnt offering. (Psalms, PSALM 116, n.d.)
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians describes the Institution of the Lord’s Supper.
* [11:23–25] This is the earliest written account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament. The narrative emphasizes Jesus’ action of self-giving (expressed in the words over the bread and the cup) and his double command to repeat his own action. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 11, n.d.)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus washes the Disciples’ Feet.
* [13:1–20] Washing of the disciples’ feet. This episode occurs in John at the place of the narration of the institution of the Eucharist in the synoptics. It may be a dramatization of Lk 22:27—“I am your servant.” It is presented as a “model” (“pattern”) of the crucifixion. It symbolizes cleansing from sin by sacrificial death. (John, CHAPTER 13, n.d.)
Vivian Amu is moved to ask several questions. Could Jesus be prompting us to humbly touch the messiest part of others and tend to them with care? Could Jesus be prompting us to allow others to forgive us and have the humility to receive that forgiveness? Could Jesus be prompting us to take off our garments of pride, properness, and status and just use the absorbent towel of love to soak up and forgive the mistakes and errors of those we encounter? Could Jesus be showing us what it takes to love without borders, conditions, or social acceptability? Could Jesus be showing us what it really takes to be in an authentic relationship with others?
None of us knows the exact day or time of our death, but what if we did? What would you spend time doing? Where would you want to be? Whom would you need to prepare for your passing? Whom would you need to forgive or embrace? Honestly, I don’t know how I would feel or what I would be doing, but I hope I would have the courage to tell those I love how I feel before it’s too late. I hope I will be able to share and remember moments that made us laugh and cry. I hope I will be able to do one of my favorite things, which is to cook a nice meal for those I enjoy very much. I hope I am able to comfort them and give them things of mine that I have kept over the years and held precious, just something visual to remember me. I hope I am able to spend much time with those who have been with me through the best times and worst times so that they know I loved them to the very end. I hope I am able to remove all the facades of pride, selfishness, and "okayness" that I wear as outer garments. I hope I will be able to allow myself a moment of vulnerability, which would mean having nothing but that which God brought me into this world with, an ability to let others love me, wash me, and nourish me like when I was born. I hope I will have the wisdom and grace to say to those I will leave behind:
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Remember me.
My body and my blood are for you, you whom I love.
My daily sweat and grind were so I could spend more time with you.
I came from God, and I will return to God.
I will see you when we rise into life. (Amu, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ chose to be a servant who offered himself for us,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Even though the man Christ Jesus, in the form of God together with the Father with whom He is one God, accepts our sacrifice, nonetheless He has chosen in the form of a servant to be the sacrifice rather than accept it. Therefore, He is the priest Himself Who presents the offering, and He Himself is what is offered." (excerpt from City of God, 10,20) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 comments that at each Mass, and especially tonight on Holy Thursday, we have the opportunity to commemorate this great act of love. Jesus is the Lamb who has poured out his own blood in order to give us a cleansed heart and new life in him. Each Mass makes present this sacrifice to us and offers us Christ himself in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
Tonight, remember and celebrate what Jesus has done for you. Praise and thank him after Communion and after Mass in Adoration. Imagine all your sins being removed from you until you can’t see them anymore. Imagine the joy of heaven that awaits you—all because of Jesus’ blood. With confidence in its power, pray that each person in the world would experience that same cleansing and hope of new life that you have in Christ.
“Jesus, tonight, and at every Mass, I bow before you in thanksgiving and praise!” (Meditation on Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the connection of Passover history to ancient celebration of an agricultural feast that took on new meaning in the “passover” of the Israelites by the Angel of Death in the exodus from Egypt. In celebration of the Eucharist we pass beyond time and make present again, Jesus at the Lord’s Supper. Friar Jude reminds us of the Eucharist and forgiveness and our call to service as we die to self.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes the sign of Jonah as the pattern of death and resurrection that each of us must walk, as Jesus did.
Without the sign of Jonah—the pattern of new life only through death (“in the belly of the whale”)—Christianity remains a largely impotent ideology, another way to “win” instead of the pain of faith. Or it becomes a language of ascent instead of the treacherous journey of descent that characterizes Jonah, Jeremiah, Job, John the Baptizer, and Jesus. After Jesus, we Christians used the metaphor “the way of the cross,” though unfortunately, it became “what Jesus did to save us”—or a negative theology of atonement—instead of the necessary pattern that is redemptive for all of us. Jesus became the cosmic problem-solver instead of the teacher of the path. (Rohr, n.d.)
We contemplate our journey with Jesus on our path with the Spirit to guide us in His Way.
References
Amu, V. (2023, April 6). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/040623.html
Exodus, CHAPTER 12. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/12?1
John, CHAPTER 13. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/13?1
Meditation on Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/04/06/647725/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 11. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/11?23
Psalms, PSALM 116. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/116?12
Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Necessary Pattern. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-necessary-pattern-2023-04-06/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=apr6
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