Holy Thursday
Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper
Reading I
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel:
On the tenth of this month every one of your families
must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,
and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
"This is how you are to eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt--I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.
"This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
R. (cf. 1 Cor 10:16) Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of
Christ.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.
Reading II
1 Cor 11:23-26
Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, 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.
Gospel
Jn 13:1-15
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him
over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
"Master, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later."
Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
Jesus answered him,
"Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."
Simon Peter said to him,
"Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well."
Jesus said to him,
"Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean
all over;
so you are clean, but not all."
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean."
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."
Commentary:
In the reading from the Book of Exodus, verses 12:1-20 are the words of Yahweh to Moses, and v. 21-27 are the transmission of those commands to the elders. The rituals for the Passover lamb and the unleavened bread are given between the announcement and fulfillment of the tenth plague. The Passover ritual is celebrated at the spring new year and enabled Israelites of succeeding generations to participate in the escape from Pharaoh’s dominion. The two rites were originally separate. The Passover Lamb was a rite of herders to propitiate the gods when they moved from the well-watered winter pastures to the arid summer ones and the rite of Unleavened Bread was a rite of farmers, a kind of spring cleaning of the previous year’s old leaven. The text connects the lamb sacrifice with the exodus (v. 11-13), while the unleavened bread is made a memorial of the exodus in the narrative itself and in an accompanying instruction in subsequent verses.
In the second reading, Paul presents himself as a link in the chain of tradition reaching back to Jesus, whose authority remains present in the church. Paul’s version of the words of institution is closest to that of Luke (22:15-20). However, in contrast to Luke, who mentions anamnēsis only in reference to the bread, Paul also has an exhortation in reference to the cup. The meaning of the formula “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" has given rise to much discussion, but the sense in this context is determined by v. 26, which is Paul’s commentary designed to confront the Corinthians with the existential meaning of the Eucharist.
In John’s Gospel, the first section falls into three parts: Jesus’ action and two interpretations. The second interpretation generalizes the action so that it teaches a lesson to all of Jesus’ later disciples. The account opens with an awkward sentence which stretches over three verses. The Father handed over all to the Son, so that the Son might bring them salvation, in dying on their behalf and thus showing his love. The reference to Judas’s betrayal may have been introduced in a later editing of the Gospel. Footwashing was a sign of hospitality (see Gen 18:4; Sam 25:41; Luke 7:44). It might be performed by the master’s slaves when welcoming a dignitary to the house.
Jesus instructs his disciples to follow in the path that he has shown. The evangelist reassures the reader that in order to share in the eschatological banquet they must also share in Jesus’ trial and be willing to become a servant (diakonos).
Reflection:
Jesus’ entire mission is one of love: “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end”. And, this mission comes to fulfillment during the Last Supper, and in what the Last Supper embodies. When we take part in the Eucharist we participate in this very mission of Jesus – we participate in his life, death, and resurrection.
All three Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), along with St. Paul describe the Last Supper. John however, presents us with the washing of the disciples’ feet. For John the key to the Eucharist is love to the ultimate consequences. It’s a love that gives itself totally without holding back. The evangelist does not include the words of transubstantiation; rather he tells the story of how Jesus humbly washes the disciple’s feet. For John, this simple gesture is as essential to the Eucharist as are the words of consecration.
Jesus empties himself to the point where only true love remains and he asks us to follow his example. For the disciples, especially Peter, this act of humility does not fit in to his preconceived ideas of what the Messiah should be. He could not conceive such an act of love. It’s not easy for this type of love to penetrate us – it’s not easy for us to just let Jesus love us. We raise barriers to stop this love from penetrating us because accepting Jesus’ love means living a life of love.
To understand what this means, let’s look a bit closer at Jesus’ act of humility: Peter finally accepts Jesus’ request and allows him to wash his feet. He wants to belong to Jesus so much that nothing else matters. Then Jesus comes upon James and John also known as the “sons of thunder” because at one time they wanted to burn a town to the ground because it had rejected them. They’re ambitious and even argued over what their status would be in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus then approaches Matthew, a rich man accustomed to having his feet washed by servants, only this time it was the Lord who bent down to do this service. Finally, Jesus approaches Judas his betrayer. For us this is inconceivable but for God this is only natural. What did Judas feel at this moment? What did Jesus fee? God’s love knows no boundaries and shows no partiality and Jesus is God’s reflection. He excludes no one, not even the man who would betray him that very night.
Jesus assures us that “Whoever sees me, sees the Father”. In him we see God: the God who welcomes and receives each one of us; the God who welcomes men and women of this world who have the need to be redeemed. God demonstrates his limitless love and does so in an atmosphere of incomprehension, treachery, and rejection. It is in a world full of these things that Jesus has lived and loved, and loving in a world such as this can only lead to death on the cross. If I allow this love to penetrate me, if I respond “yes” when Jesus asks to wash my feet, I commit myself to participate in all that belongs to Jesus: his joy and suffering, his life and death. Would I be ready for such a life of love? Would I be ready to walk in Jesus’ shoes, to live in his Spirit? Can I love as he loves? This is all part of living the Eucharist, which the Church celebrates today in a special way. We must become one with Jesus, we must imitate him, live as he lives and act as he acts. I too must wash someone else’s feet because this is an essential part of the Eucharist. I must even wash the feet of “my Judas”. Am I ready?
Biblical Sources:
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Hyatt, J. P., “Exodus”; “Exodus, Sinai and Moses”; Murphy-O’Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology”; Theissen, G., “The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; Barrett, C. K., “The Gospel According to John”; Brown, R. E., “The Community of the Beloved Disciple”; Schnackenburg, R., “The Gospel According to St. John”; Segovia, F. F., “Love Relationships in the Johannine Tradition”; “The Collegeville Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection:
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa