Gospel: The Mass of the Lord's Supper
The Mass of the Lord's Supper is a Holy Week service celebrated on the evening of Maundy Thursday. It inaugurates the Easter Triduum, and commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, more explicitly than any other Mass.
The Mass stresses three aspects of the event, as has been read from the Gospel reading: the institution of the Holy Eucharist (the bread as Christ's body and the chalice as His blood), the institution of the ministerial priesthood (by Jesus' command to "do this in memory of Me", which liturgy is celebrated on the Chrism Mass in the morning), and the commandment of brotherly love that Jesus gave after washing the feet of His disciples. This year, the Gospel is lifted from St John.
During the Mass, the Gloria is sung and the bells are rung to honor the institution of the Most Holy Sacrament, then after which the service becomes austere. The Paschal Candle and all candles are extinguished, and then the Eucharist will do a procession to the Altar of Respose after the Mass and the Gethsemane Vigil begins.
The Gospel tells us that to be a servant of God is to embrace humility, and to do this ministry we should be filled with love, the joy of being of service to others. Jesus died to give us a new life, and He also tells us how to embrace this new life by loving each other. The memorial of Christ's death is not about violence, or conquering kingdoms, or display of the pride of power, but a sacrificial offering out of love and obedience. If we have love in our hearts, we are sharing in this important commandment. It does not matter if our crosses are heavy to bear, because the love of the Lord will carry us through in any battle.
Life is full of battle that is unseen, and most of the time these battles are never talked about. There is an inner battle in us that is usually a result of spiritual blindness, or captivity from a certain situation. Jesus' passion showed us not to seek material things, but to seek what is noble and what is just. Next time we are attending Mass, let us all remember this memorial each time we partake of the Body of Christ.
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Picture from Pixabay.
The Mass stresses three aspects of the event, as has been read from the Gospel reading: the institution of the Holy Eucharist (the bread as Christ's body and the chalice as His blood), the institution of the ministerial priesthood (by Jesus' command to "do this in memory of Me", which liturgy is celebrated on the Chrism Mass in the morning), and the commandment of brotherly love that Jesus gave after washing the feet of His disciples. This year, the Gospel is lifted from St John.
During the Mass, the Gloria is sung and the bells are rung to honor the institution of the Most Holy Sacrament, then after which the service becomes austere. The Paschal Candle and all candles are extinguished, and then the Eucharist will do a procession to the Altar of Respose after the Mass and the Gethsemane Vigil begins.
The Gospel tells us that to be a servant of God is to embrace humility, and to do this ministry we should be filled with love, the joy of being of service to others. Jesus died to give us a new life, and He also tells us how to embrace this new life by loving each other. The memorial of Christ's death is not about violence, or conquering kingdoms, or display of the pride of power, but a sacrificial offering out of love and obedience. If we have love in our hearts, we are sharing in this important commandment. It does not matter if our crosses are heavy to bear, because the love of the Lord will carry us through in any battle.
Life is full of battle that is unseen, and most of the time these battles are never talked about. There is an inner battle in us that is usually a result of spiritual blindness, or captivity from a certain situation. Jesus' passion showed us not to seek material things, but to seek what is noble and what is just. Next time we are attending Mass, let us all remember this memorial each time we partake of the Body of Christ.
Amen.
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Picture from Pixabay.
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