Holy Thursday

Beginning at sundown today, we’re beginning the most holy time of the year: the Sacred Triduum, or Sacred “Three Days”: tonight to tomorrow night, tomorrow night to Saturday night, and Saturday night to Sunday night.

In these days, we commemorate Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection, by which He gave His life and rose again out of love for the Father and love for us.

As we enter into this most sacred time, here are some things for you to consider, ponder and reflect on, particularly about Holy Thursday…

First, I’d like to offer you the introduction which the monthly devotional Magnificat offers for tonight’s Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper:

This evening’s Gospel “contains a phrase that is the very core of what Jesus did for us: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end… Jesus loves us to the point of giving his life for us… And every one of us can say: He gave his life for me” (Pope Francis). It is not a coincidence that this assurance of the Lord’s love is joined to the institution of both the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders: Jesus continues to stoop, to wash us, to serve us, to sanctify us, and to love us through the priesthood and the Eucharist.

Even though we cannot receive Jesus in the Eucharist, and even though many of us have not been able to be with our priests as we are used to, let us take consolation in the fact that we are, nonetheless, still washed, served and sanctified by the priesthood and the Eucharist even from a distance. God has not abandoned us… He is still with us, even in the sacraments that we cannot receive right now. Let us trust in Him.

Second, a thought on another way to live Holy Thursday…

One of the hallmarks of the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper is the washing of the feet, in which the parish pastor washes the feet of twelve of His parishioners, in imitation of Jesus’ washing of the feet of His disciples as an act of service. Jesus explains this act in John’s Gospel reading for this Mass:

So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “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.”

It’s helpful to consider the historical context: as you can imagine, in the first century, one’s feet got very dirty during the day. Even with sandals, the dust, dirt, grime and, well, other “organic matter” that one stepped in during the day left the typical person with extremely dirty feet at the end of the day. So for those with servants, one of the servant tasks was to wash the Master’s feet. Needless to say, this wasn’t a very appealing task, so it was often left to the lowest servant on the totem pole.

So by washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus gives us a model, as He says: serve others as even I have served you. Take on the lowest task. Do the dirty work (literally, in that case!).

Because we cannot participate in the Mass, one way that many families are planning to commemorate this ritual & its meaning is by washing one another’s feet at home. But really, any gesture in which the “master” of the house takes on the tasks normally performed by one of the “lesser” members of the household can make the same point.

So, in our case — shhh, don’t tell our kids! — I’m planning to do their chores today and through the Triduum, explicitly making the point that even though they “ought” to be doing the, I am doing them for them, just as Jesus took on the “chores” which might be more properly done by His disciples.

Honestly, at least in our house, I think that will make Jesus’ point even more clearly than washing their feet. So consider how you might make Jesus’ point in your own family tonight.

Finally, something to sink your mind and spirit into as we begin the Triduum…

One of my favorite biblical scholars working today is Brant Pitre, author of many fantastic books, several of which focus on the Jewish roots of various Catholic practices. One particular area of his focus has been on the Jewish roots of the Eucharist and on Jesus’ Last Supper as not only a Passover sacrificial meal but also, in effect, the first sacrificial meal of the New Passover and New Covenant (i.e. the Mass).

I’d like to share things pieces of his work with you here. First is a two-part audio series in which he summarizes what he wrote about in his book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. Second is a short article looking at similar material: the Jewish roots of the Mass. Finally, here’s an interview he did a couple years ago in which he discusses the dating of the Last Supper and its being a Passover meal.

A blessed Triduum to you all!