Thursday of the Lord’s Supper (B – White)
ANTIPHON (cf. Galatians 6:14)
We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection; through whom we are saved and delivered.
INTRODUCTION:
Dear brothers and sisters, we begin the Easter Triduum of the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. On the night he would be betrayed, Jesus shows that he loves his disciples to the end. He who is Teacher and Lord washes their feet. This is the “sign” of the Eucharist which he institutes: the total giving of himself in service and on the cross. The Eucharist and the priesthood make possible our sharing of Jesus’ self-giving in love, for as the apostle Paul says, every time we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
FIRST READING (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14)
The Passover reminds the Jews of God’s deliverance from their slavery in Egypt. God has given us a new Passover in Jesus. He, the Lamb of God, saves us by his blood. Rising from death to life, he lets us “pass over” from sin to grace.
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 (Psalm 116:12-18; Response: 1 Corinthians 10:16)
R – Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.
1. 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)
2. 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)
3. 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)
SECOND READING (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
St. Paul reminds us that Abraham’s faith is the source of all righteousness. It is this righteousness that is the key to what has been promised to Abraham by God, and to us by Christ.
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.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL (John 13:34)
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.
GOSPEL: (John 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.”
REFLECTION:
Images and pictures have a way of evoking an emotional response from people that words sometimes fail to do. Ideas are easily grasped, concepts are easily understood and learning is greatly facilitated by looking at images rather than just reading texts. Recall, for instance, the images that came out in our newspapers in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda. Immediately you realize that something horrendous has occurred and you feel” for those who have been at the receiving end of the wrath of this natural disaster.
In our Gospel reading, we are given an image that is so rich in meaning that we even ritualize it in our liturgy for today-the washing of the feet. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI speaks of the foot-washing by Jesus as both a sacramentum and an exemplum. It is a sacramentum, a symbolic act that represents and, in a way, summarizes the orientation and meaning of the life of Jesus. It is also an exemplum, an example or a model to be followed.
Sacramentum: A Picture that Says it All
Many of the things that Jesus proclaimed by his words and actions are captured by the image of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. In our world today where foot massage is becoming a service almost all of us can avail of, where we see more and more pedicured toenails and well-scrubbed soles, the disconcerting significance of the image of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples may not be easily grasped. The roads of Palestine during the time of Jesus were dusty when dry and muddy when wet. Animal droppings and garbage were found along the way. People wore sandals but those did not provide enough shield for one’s feet from the filth and dirt of Palestinian roads. People would provide water in a basin for their guests as a sign of hospitality. But not even the lowliest slaves were compelled to perform the task of washing the feet of these guests. Husbands, too, could not coerce their wives to do such a humiliating chore. Wives may wash the feet of their husbands not as an obligation but as an act of love and devotion. Children may likewise perform this task to their parents for the same reason. Similarly, a disciple may wash his master’s feet as an expression of respect and affection, but the reverse was never done. What Jesus did was therefore surprising, if not altogether revolting. The reaction of Peter, therefore, was understandable. So, too, was the bewilderment of the other disciples when Jesus in turn washed their feet. Never had a master washed the feet of his disciples. The foot-washing that Jesus did was a symbolic act of astounding humility, a vivid expression of total devotion and unconditional love, and a powerful demonstration of self- sacrificing service.
Exemplum: A Picture that Paints a Thousand Words
The symbolic act of foot-washing is not simply an incident in the past. Jesus himself exhorted his disciples to repeat what he has done-”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.” The symbolic gesture of foot-washing that Jesus did belongs primarily in the realm of life, not in the domain of rituals. Jesus exhorted his disciples not simply to reenact the gesture of foot-washing every Holy Thursday but to allow its symbolic significance to come alive in our daily life. One author remarked that we are called to be ”the people of the towel” and suggested that each disciple is asked to take up not just his cross but also his towel daily.
On this first day of the Easter Triduum, we stand in awe and in gratitude for Jesus’ demonstration of humility, devotion, love, and service. But we also renew our commitment to repeat what Jesus has done, to follow his example, to bend down on our knees, to wash the feet of our sisters and brothers especially in the last, the least and the lost. Amen.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)
This is the Body that will be given up for you; this is the Chalice of the new covenant in my Blood, says the Lord; do this, whenever you receive it, in memory of me.
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The Mass Readings are from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/bible/readings) and Reflections by Fr. Victor S. Nicdao, is taken from the 29th March, 2018 edition of Sambuhay Missalette, printed in the Philippines by St. Paul’s Media Pastoral Ministry. The views and opinions in this post are those of the authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the blog site.
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