Holy Thursday
Jesus washes the feet of his disciples.
Let us begin by praising God in song. The Words are provided please feel free to join in the singing.
opening prayeR (Aloud)
Our Father, who art in heaven, sacred is Your Word. Your kingdom come, Your Words be heard on earth as they are in heaven. Give us today Your Sacred Word. Forgive our neglect of it in the past as we forgive those who neglect us. Lead us toward an encounter with You each time we delve into the Scriptures. For Your presence, Your power, and Your glory are ever present among us now and forever.
Amen
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem” (Mk 10:33). With these words, the Lord invites the disciples to journey with Him on the path that leads from Galilee to the place where He will complete His redemptive mission.””
A Reading from the Gospel of John:
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”
Now contemplate the sacrifice the Lord makes for us in the Eucharist, while listening to the Ave Verum Corpus..
Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary, having truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for mankind, from whose pierced side
water and blood flowed: Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet] in the trial of death!
“The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of His unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is His Body.”
Question for Reflection:
Here with the washing of the feet at the last supper, we see Jesus at his most human kneeling on the floor to wash the physical dirt from each disciples feet to prepare them for a communal meal. Such intimacy and tender affection he shows. Would this make us uncomfortable? Would we allow ourselves to be tended to in so intimate a manner?
If we cannot allow ourselves to be tended to in this manner, it can then also be hard for us to accept the even more intimate relationship we have with Christ in the Eucharist, where Christ, ever desiring intimacy with us, calls us to physically ingest him in the Eucharist, feeding our bodies in order to feed our souls. How often do we contemplate how close our relationship to Christ becomes through the Eucharist. This is love and a tender care allowing Christ to tend to every wound, regardless of how deep, even the ones self-inflicted. What do you need Christ to heal in you today?
Take some time to write down your reflections.
A Prayer for accompanying Jesus in the Garden:
My Most Precious Lord Jesus, this night You gathered with Your Apostles to share with them Your last meal. But this was no ordinary meal. This was the gift of Your most Sacred Body and Blood, soon to be broken and poured out on the Cross for the salvation of the world.
Allow me, dear Lord, to spend this night in prayer and meditation with You. After the meal, You invited Your Apostles to join You for one hour, to stay awake and keep vigil as You prepared for Your arrest. The Apostles fell asleep, leaving You in Your bitter agony alone.
I accept Your gentle invitation of love, dear Lord, to spend this night in vigil with You. May I enter Your Heart as it faced the coming persecution You were to endure for my sins. May I console Your Sacred Heart and know the love and Mercy that flowed forth.
Lord, when I face the crosses of my own life, give me Your divine courage and strength to say “Yes” to the Will of the Father. Your love for me is abundant and is perfect in every way. Help me to know that love, to embrace it and to allow it into my life.
I make my vigil with You this night, dear Lord. I love You, help me to love You with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.
Litany of Supplication
We close this time of meditation with our traditional Eucharistic procession hymn.