Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Holy Thursday is one of my favorite masses of the whole year. There is something intimate and genuine about recalling and reliving this meal, Christ’s last meal. Meals are something we all can relate to, we can all understand. And this meal, the Passover feast, was special. Much like we have traditional meals we eat for Christmas or Easter or Thanksgiving, the Passover meal was a traditional meal Christ would have shared with those nearest and dearest to Him. How lucky for us to be part of that each year as we recall this, His last supper.
I am sure this was true in Jesus’ time, but it is also true in our own time - meals tend to be that one place where we sit, we stop everything we are doing, and we share ourselves with one another. We are real. We are vulnerable. We are present to one another. And this is how Christ was to his disciples. At this meal, Christ made himself so vulnerable, that he took off his outer garments, lowered himself to the floor and washed each of their feet. He, the master, the teacher, belittled himself to serve his followers.
After he finished washing their feet and returned to table with them he said this line, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” We, just as the disciples often were, can be dense. But in this moment, Christ spells it all out very clearly – He has been the model. We must follow his lead. It is as if in this moment Christ reveals for us our Parish motto. Think like me. Talk like me. Act like me. He has given us a model – a way to live, a way to love, a way to serve. And it is our job to follow the model set before us.
I am certain Jesus did not only mean that he is the model for us in this moment of the washing of the feet. He is a model for us in how he chose to live each and every moment of his life. From the way he loved his mother to the way he embraced sinners to his passionate outbursts against sinful acts to his ability to speak the truth when it is difficult to his forgiveness – all the way to his sacrificial death - he is our model. He shows us how to live, how to pray, how to be Christians.
As we begin this blessed triduum celebration, this most sacred time in our church, may we pray deeply about these words, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” What stirs in our hearts when we hear this? What is Jesus modeling for us? What part of following Christ’s example is hardest?
Take these questions to prayer, and as Christ’s suffering and agony unfold over the next day, be with him. Share in his passion. And allow yourself to be with Christ – broken, battered, vulnerable and weak.
This mass ends with one of my favorite chants - “Stay with me. Remain here with me. Watch and pray.” Throughout this blessed triduum, find time to be with Christ, to observe all he models for us and to watch and pray. Amen.
Amanda Grimm