Holy Thursday 2023

[cappie]

Remembering is an essential aspect of human nature. We remember a number of things, both good and bad, but we remember especially those things that influence and affect us and make a difference in our lives. This power of remembering becomes evident on Maundy (Holy) Thursday.

As we know, Holy Thursday is the day when the Church recalls the Last Supper of our Lord, the event in the life of Jesus which forms the basis for the sacrament of the Eucharist. One of the key elements in the theology of the Eucharist is captured in the Greek word “anamnesis,” which means “remembrance or memory” Anamnesis comes from the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper: “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). We also see this being emphasized in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We can see that the early Church clearly recalled that when Jesus blessed the bread and the wine and shared them with his disciples, he had asked them to do it in order to remember him. It is precisely because of this commandment of Jesus that we celebrate the Eucharist and regard it as one of the two great sacraments, along with baptism.

This idea of remembering goes back to the Passover. In the first reading, we read about Moses instituting the first Passover among the people of Israel who were in bondage in Egypt. He instructed them to slaughter a lamb, smear its blood on the doorpost, and eat the roasted meat with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in a hurry before they set out on the long journey toward freedom. It was a tradition that was to be passed on and followed by all generations to mark the night of their escape from slavery. Thus, among other things, the Passover is the memory and celebration of God’s liberation of his people from the powers of slavery and oppression.

Jesus, being a good Jew who would have certainly heard this story from his parents as a child. Using the bread and wine as symbols of sacrifice and suffering, on his last supper before he was killed, he helped his disciples to trust in God’s liberation, even when sin, evil, and death seemed to triumph.

In other words, the Passover, which was remembered during the Last Supper, became a reality on Easter Day, even though they had difficulty accepting and believing it. This is why the followers of Jesus took seriously his commandment to remember(anamnesis) him as they broke the bread and shared the cup. It is also why we believe that Christ is present with us in the bread and the wine. We bow to the host because we believe it to be the real presence of Christ himself. On Holy Thursday, we place the hosts at the altar of repose, which reminds us of the garden of Gethsemane. We watch and pray because we believe that the presence of Christ is as real today as it was two thousand years ago.

The  Eucharist is more than blessing the bread and wine, more than breaking the bread and sharing the cup as Jesus did. It is also more than acknowledging the presence of Jesus in the host. So, what is it then? This is where we find the gospel lesson for Holy Thursday helpful.

 St John recalls that, during the supper, Jesus had done something unthinkable. He humbled himself like a slave, “and washed the feet of his disciples, including the one who was going to betray him, reminding them of the importance of humility and love. Thus, John seems to tell us that perhaps the most important aspect of the Last Supper which we remember and celebrate on Holy Thursday,  is love: loving one another as Christ has loved us.

Not sentimental, self-centered, love, but self-sacrificing, and self-giving love. A love that goes beyond our narrow boundaries and walls and builds bridges across differences. It is a love that bends down and washes  feet. Love is exactly what Christ wants us to do!

In fact, this is what the word Maundy used so often for Holy Thursday stands for; the Latin word “mandatum” which means “commandment.” On this night, Jesus gave a new commandment to his disciples: to love one another. This means,  we cannot overlook the crucial significance of love. In fact, without love, God’s love for the world that brings us together, and our love for one another, there is not and can be no meaningful celebration of the Eucharist.

  As we remember this Last Supper and the humble act of our Lord, and as we gather at the Lord’s altar to receive his body and blood,  may we remember to follow his command to love one another.