Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” March-April 2022

Easter Triduum – Holy Thursday “The Lord’s Supper”
proper

Evening Mass

FIRST READING

From the Book of Exodus (Ex 12:1-8, 11-14)
In those days, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say: ‘On the tenth of this month each of them shall procure a lamb for their family, a lamb for each household. If the household is too small for a lamb, it shall join its nearest neighbor, according to the number of persons; you shall calculate the lamb in proportion to what each can eat. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, one year old; you may take it from the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. Then they shall take some of its blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. That night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This is how you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of the Lord! For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood on the houses where you are shall serve as a sign in your favor: when I see the blood, I will pass over you; no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial; you shall celebrate it as a feast of the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance.’” – The Word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The Jewish Passover ritual begins with the sacrifice of the lamb: it must be male and without blemish (imperfections have always had a distant relationship with sin). Part of the lamb’s blood is used to mark the Israelites’ doors. Then the lamb must be eaten in communion, before setting out for the Promised Land. Jesus, the lamb who takes away the sins of the world, has the same characteristics as this Passover lamb: male, without blemish, shedding his blood, giving himself as food (“Take and eat, this is my body”). The Mass sacramentally repeats the same stages: there is the sacrifice of the lamb, there is his blood, there is communion, and there is the passage from slavery (no longer from Egypt but from sin) to the freedom of the children of God. This is why the Book of Exodus says that this memorial must be celebrated as a “perpetual ordinance.” In fact, it is repeated every day, whenever Mass is celebrated. On Holy Thursday we solemnly remember this grand perspective of God.

SECOND READING

From the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:23-26)
Brothers and sisters, I received from the Lord what I in turn handed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it and said: “This is my body that is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, 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. – The Word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Saint Paul states that he received the Gospel directly through a revelation from the Lord Jesus (Gal 1:15). His “source,” therefore, is pure and authentic: Paul says that he wants to do nothing other than pass on what he received, without removing or adding anything of his own. The Gospel, in fact, must be transmitted as it is; it can be commented on, of course, studied and explored, but its content is untouchable because it comes from God. And when the apostle tells us to transmit only what he received, he is speaking of the Eucharist. We therefore cannot doubt that this transmission is softened, altered, or interpreted: this is what truly happened, and this is what happens every time the Mystery is celebrated. That bread is truly the body of Christ, that wine is truly his blood. The life of the Church is founded on this faith; it passes on to generations not a message, not a word, but a presence, the presence of Jesus who saves from sin.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 13:1-15)
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God, rose from the table, laid aside his garments, 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 he had tied around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him: “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered: “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 share with me.” Simon Peter said to him: “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and head!” Jesus added: “Whoever has bathed does not need to wash, except his feet, and is entirely clean; and you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason he said: “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed their feet, he put his garments back on and reclined again at table and said to them: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, so that you may also do as I have done to you.”- The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The opening phrase “he loved them to the end” encompasses the entire Gospel. There is still one act to be performed before “passing from this world to the Father,” and it is a startling action: God, Lord of all, creator and redeemer, of the same substance as the Father, the Holy One, bends down before poor, fragile, weak, and sinful men and serves them. He places himself “beneath them.” Peter’s immediate reaction is understandable: that is not a gesture “of God” or “from God”; Jesus cannot humble himself so much. He is the teacher and should not do things usually done by the lowest servant. But this is the logic of love. Love does not fall from above; the one who loves does not say, “I love you, but remember that you must serve and revere me.” No: love humbles itself, descends, and when it reaches the lowest point (that “to the end”), it asks only to be welcomed and accepted. Love is humble, pure, and chaste, and finds joy in giving itself to the beloved. Even to giving one’s life for the beloved. Precisely, to the end.