In Remembrance of Me

Apr 6: Holy Thursday -Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

I decided to reflect on the Lord’s Supper mass rather than the Chrism mass because I think, while Easter is what differentiates Christianity from other religions, it’s Holy Thursday that sets Catholicism apart from mere Christianity.

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.”

The reason we’re reading about the first Passover is not just to give us context for what Jesus did at the Last Supper, although that’s important. It’s also to remind us of Jesus’ position in all of this. He becomes the lamb of the new Passover.

God re-wrote the Israelite calendar, declaring this month the start of the new year, from now on. Jesus is re-writing it again.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18.

R. 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.

The death of God’s faithful isn’t “precious” in the sense of being good. It means costly. Jesus gave up everything for us.

And so we, though we don’t sacrifice everything, can still offering up a thanksgiving sacrifice every week (or day, if you can make it) at the mass.

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.

The Eucharist has been a part of Christianity from the beginning. The First Letter to the Corinthians was written in the early 50's,¹ and we can already see that the words of the celebration are similar to what we still use today.

Verse Before the Gospel

Jn 13:34

I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.

This isn’t exactly a “new” commandment; Jesus is paraphrasing Leviticus.² But He is expanding it. Don’t just love your neighbor as you love yourself; love your neighbor as Jesus loves you. Because he loves you more than you even love yourself.

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.”

I think this is a neat illustration of when Jesus is speaking metaphorically and when he’s speaking literally. Jesus demonstrates that He is the suffering servant,³ and we should follow him.

Then Peter asks that Jesus wash him all over. And Jesus is all, “Dude, you’re missing the point.” And he goes on to explain He’s a model for them to follow.

So again, when it comes to the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Jesus specifically and conspicuously does not explain the metaphor. And the only reason for that is, it’s not.

Every mass is in remembrance of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but Holy Thursday is a specific reminder that He is always with us in a real, physical way. This physicality will become very important come Easter morning.

1. 0050’s.

2. Lv 19:18

3. It’s funny how we’ve had four days of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant Songs, and today’s Gospel is specifically about serving, yet today is the only day this week we don’t hear from Isaiah. The lectionary is always keeping you on your toes!