Triduum Present in Love and Service

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, invite us to be present in the Triduum, the three day experience of Christ love and in both horizontal and vertical dimensions.

Present in Service

In the Reading from the Book of Exodus the Passover Ritual is Prescribed.

* [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.

* [12:4] The lamb’s cost: some render the Hebrew, “reckon for the lamb the number of persons required to eat it.” Cf. v. 10. (Exodus, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 116 presents vows and Temple sacrifices.

* [Psalm 116] A thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds to divine rescue from mortal danger (Ps 116:3–4) and from near despair (Ps 116:10–11) with vows and Temple sacrifices (Ps 116:13–14, 17–19). The Greek and Latin versions divide the Psalm into two parts: Ps 116:1–9 and Ps 116:10–19, corresponding to its two major divisions. (Psalms, PSALM 116 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is the earliest account of the Tradition of the Institution.

* [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 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents Jesus Washing of the Disciples’ Feet at the Last Supper.

* [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.

* [13:1] Before the feast of Passover: this would be Thursday evening, before the day of preparation; in the synoptics, the Last Supper is a Passover meal taking place, in John’s chronology, on Friday evening. To the end: or, “completely.”

* [13:2] Induced: literally, “The devil put into the heart that Judas should hand him over.”

* [13:5] The act of washing another’s feet was one that could not be required of the lowliest Jewish slave. It is an allusion to the humiliating death of the crucifixion.

* [13:10] Bathed: many have suggested that this passage is a symbolic reference to baptism. The Greek root involved is used in baptismal contexts in 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:26; Ti 3:5; Heb 10:22. (John, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. George Meze, SJ, comments that the deeper meaning of these actions was revealed in the crucifixion as Jesus shared his life with the wounded humanity. In this mystery, the Divine One humbled God’s own self by becoming human to serve and redeem humanity.

 

This reflection reminds the three ways of humility described by St. Ignatius. The first way is obedience to God in all things. The second is to take a step further where one practices the virtue of indifference to dispose oneself to God’s Will. The third is the most radical and unusual: intentionally choosing to live as Jesus lived; to choose poverty with Christ poor rather than wealth; contempt rather than honors; to be useless rather than a prudent person.

As we celebrate Jesus’ Last Supper, He invites us into His intentional way of sharing. As Ignatius teaches, it means divesting of self-love, self-will, and self-interest to invest in God’s love, God’s will, and God’s interest. We pray for the grace to respond to our Savior’s invitation to take part in his Sharing. (Meze, n.d.)

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.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments both on the Chrism mass, celebrated yesterday in this diocese, and also on the Institution of the Eucharist celebrated as part of the Triduum. In Exodus are the instructions for the first Passover sacrifice and the shedding of blood as a sign to the Angel of Death. This was likely originally an agricultural feast to celebrate the Spring birth of the lambs. The people are told to keep the memorial forever. When celebrated in dress for a journey they were making present the Exodus event as in our Eucharist we celebrate the Presence of Christ. The Corinthians passage is the earliest account of the Institution. It is similar to what is found in Luke’s Gospel. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark it is blood in the cup. In celebrating the Eucharist we are present with Jesus as we pass out of time into eternity in some way. This is the message in the Gospels of  Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In John, the account emphasizes the horizontal dimension of Eucharist. The vertical dimension in the Gospel of John is in the Chapter 6, Bread of Life discourse, and the service in Chapter 13 emphasises community in the Eucharist. Friar Jude comments we often find it difficult to have others serve us, but love requires the vulnerability to allow others to serve us. Asking for help is an opportunity for them to serve us. 

 

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 13:1-15 comments on the scene in John of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Yet, if we have eyes to see it, this passage also reveals beautiful truths about Jesus’ gift of his Body and Blood.

Do you realize what I have done for you? Finally, Jesus tells us he has given us “a model” to follow; he wants us to “wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14, 15). And in the Eucharist, he gives us the grace to fulfill that call. “As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity” (Catechism, 1394). Jesus dwells in you and helps you to see more clearly the needs of the people around you. Even more, he moves your heart to gladly sacrifice your time, energy, and resources in love.

Do you realize what Jesus has done for you? Bow down before him in wonder and gratitude today!

“Thank you, Jesus, for your great gift of the Eucharist.” (Meditation on John 13:1-15, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Dr. Yolanda Pierce who finds both comfort and challenge in the spiritual “Were You There?,” which invites listeners to reflect on how they are present to Jesus’s death on the cross.

There is fullness of life when you show up, fully present, when people are suffering and where people are bearing the burdens of their own crosses. “Were You There?” is a reminder that to be fully present with the whole of humanity does not require us to enter the sanctuary or walk across the threshold of a church. The cross, Calvary, is a site of public spectacle. The rhetorical question “Were you there?” signifies the real pressing question about whether you will be present for lost and hurting generations.

To be present is to be wherever there is need. Were you there when the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina or when the earthquake shook Haiti? Will you be there when the next natural disaster strikes and the most vulnerable cannot find shelter?…

To be present is to be where people are suffering. Were you there among the hungry and the homeless, those in search of both their spiritual and physical daily bread?… Or will you cross to the other side of the street?

To be present is to be at the front lines of the fight for justice. Were you there in Selma and Birmingham, risking the dogs and the water hoses? Will you be there on Capitol Hill to fight for health care for the uninsured? Will you be there at your senator’s office to protest the cuts to educational funding even as another several billion dollars are appropriated to fight unjust wars?

The lyrics of “Were You There?” continue with the words “Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble! Tremble! Tremble!” I wonder whether we have lost our ability to tremble—to be deeply affected —in the face of injustice. I wonder whether we no longer tremble in the presence of a holy God who requires us to do the work of justice. (Rohr, n.d.)

We invoke the Presence of the Spirit as we walk with Jesus in the events of the Triduum, representing the three days that are the Source and Summit of our invitation to fullness of Life.

References

Exodus, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/12?1 

John, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/13?1 

Meditation on John 13:1-15. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/02/1530864/ 

Meze, G. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-2-2026 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/11? 

Psalms, PSALM 116 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/116? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Were You There? Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/were-you-there/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus' Supreme Humility and Unfailing Love. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Transformation of Talents

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to seek the Way in which we are called to use our gifts to transform our environment to realize the Kingdom of God.

Talents Transformed for Life

The Reading from the First Book of Samuel introduces us to Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh.

* [1:6] Her rival: Hebrew sara, “rival wife, co-wife”; in the Talmud, a technical term for a second or co-wife.

* [1:7] In biblical narrative, the social status gained by producing children, especially males, often set woman against woman; cf. e.g., Gn 16, 21, 30. Peninnah’s provocations may be the arrogant boasting mentioned in 2:3. (1 Samuel, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 116 is a thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds with vows and Temple sacrifices.

* [Psalm 116] A thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds to divine rescue from mortal danger (Ps 116:3–4) and from near despair (Ps 116:10–11) with vows and Temple sacrifices (Ps 116:13–14, 17–19). The Greek and Latin versions divide the Psalm into two parts: Ps 116:1–9 and Ps 116:10–19, corresponding to its two major divisions. (Psalms, PSALM 116 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Mark presents The Call of the First Disciples.

* [1:14–15] After John had been arrested: in the plan of God, Jesus was not to proclaim the good news of salvation prior to the termination of the Baptist’s active mission. Galilee: in the Marcan account, scene of the major part of Jesus’ public ministry before his arrest and condemnation. The gospel of God: not only the good news from God but about God at work in Jesus Christ. This is the time of fulfillment: i.e., of God’s promises. The kingdom of God…Repent: see note on Mt 3:2.

* [1:16–20] These verses narrate the call of the first Disciples. See notes on Mt 4:18–22 and Mt 4:20. (Mark, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Carol Zuegner comments that Jesus walks by men working in their boats in Galilee and calls out to Simon and Andrew, to James and John that it is time to repent and believe in the gospel. 

I think the call to repent and believe in the gospel is one we see and hear and feel every day. Every hour. Every minute. We make choices about how we are living our lives. And it’s the small choices, the small actions that establish the pattern of our lives, the way we follow the gospel. I want to repent and believe and live out the gospel. But I have to do the work in my thoughts and in my actions every day. Every hour. Every minute. God is waiting for me. I can stop what I’m doing and follow Jesus. I can do the right thing for myself, for my family and friends, for my community and the world. I can, as a broken and flawed human who is always loved by God, start over when I’ve made mistakes and fallen short. (Zuegner, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Common people on an uncommon mission,” by Eusebius of Caesarea (260/263-340 AD).

"Reflect on the nature and grandeur of the one Almighty God who could associate himself with the poor of the lowly fisherman's class. To use them to carry out God's mission baffles all rationality. For having conceived the intention, which no one ever before had done, of spreading his own commands and teachings to all nations, and of revealing himself as the teacher of the religion of the one Almighty God to all humanity, he thought good to use the most unsophisticated and common people as ministers of his own design. Maybe God just wanted to work in the most unlikely way. For how could inarticulate folk be made able to teach, even if they were appointed teachers to only one person, much less to a multitude? How should those who were themselves without education instruct the nations?... When he had thus called them as his followers, he breathed into them his divine power, and filled them with strength and courage. As God himself he spoke God's true word to them in his own way, enabling them to do great wonders, and made them pursuers of rational and thinking souls, by empowering them to come after him, saying: 'Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people' (Mark 1:17, Matthew 4:19). With this empowerment God sent them forth to be workers and teachers of holiness to all the nations, declaring them heralds of his own teaching." (excerpt from PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 3.7) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 1:14-20 comments that little by little, Jesus invited his disciples to share in his work: to distribute the loaves and fishes and to go out two by two, healing the sick and casting out demons. By that time, they loved and trusted him enough to want to do whatever he told them. They had been with him long enough for him to capture their hearts. And they were looking more like him!

Your relationship with Jesus progresses in a similar way. He has invited you to come after him and to remain with him. Now, every hour you spend in prayer or with the Scriptures helps you to know him better. Every time you give of yourself for someone in need, his grace flows through you and you reflect his life more fully. As time goes by, your relationship with him—and your likeness to him—grows stronger and stronger.

So imitate those first disciples and come after Jesus. Spend time with him; take on his character. And watch how the Lord transforms you and works through you!

“Jesus, thank you for inviting me to follow you. Make me more like you today.” (Meditation on Mark 1:14-20, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that 1 Samuel sets up the story of Hannah and fact that the other wife has two children whereas she is barren and feels she has not received the blessing of the Lord. As the texts continues she will become the mother of Sampson. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of God when God's love and law is lived to the full. God calls us to use the talents and brokenness already in us. Friar Jude notes we are to surrender to be transformed with our talents to be used for the Kingdom and not for our own gain and grandiosement.

Brian McLaren reflects on the miraculous creation of the cosmos and everything in it. In light of the Genesis story, we would say that the possibility of this universe overflowed into actuality as God, the Creative Spirit, uttered the original joyful invitation: Let it be! And in response, what happened? Light. Time. Space. Matter. Motion. Sea. Stone. Fish. Sparrow. You. Me. Enjoying the unspeakable gift and privilege of being here, being alive….

The best thing in Genesis is not simply human beings, but the whole creation considered and enjoyed together, as a beautiful, integrated whole, and us a part. The poetry of Genesis describes the “very goodness” that comes at the end of a long process of creation … when all the parts, including us, are working together as one whole. That harmonious whole is so good that the Creator takes a day off, as it were, just to enjoy it. That day of restful enjoyment tells us that the purpose of existence isn’t money or power or fame or security or anything less than this: to participate in the goodness and beauty and aliveness of creation…. (McLaren, n.d.)

We invite the Spirit to guide our surrender to the invitation of Jesus to transform our talents to be “fishers of people” in our journey to fullness of life.

References

Mark, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/1?14 

McLaren, B. (n.d.). An Intimate Origin Story. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/an-intimate-origin-story/ 

Meditation on Mark 1:14-20. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/12/1478663/ 

1 Samuel, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/1?1 

Psalms, PSALM 116 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/116?12 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Kingdom of God Is at Hand. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Zuegner, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved January 12, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-12-2026