Holy Thursday
(Exodus 12:1-8.11-14; I Corinthians 11:23-26; John
13:1-15)
All three readings this evening refer to a symbolic meal
which people eat to this very day. The
first reading indicates the origin of this meal. As the nation of Israel is about to flee
Egypt, God mandates the people to sacrifice a lamb and to eat its meat. Furthermore, they are to spread the lamb’s
blood on their doorposts to save them from the punishment He will inflict on
sinful Egypt. The lamb symbolizes the
very lives of the people offered to God, and its blood represents their
obedience to His commands.
In the second reading St. Paul recalls how Christ, a
faithful Jew, celebrated the meal but appropriated its meaning to himself. This had to be done because the people of
Israel could not live in obedience to God’s law. Jesus, who was obedient to the Father’s
command from day one, is declaring himself the lamb sacrificed to God. His blood, shed on cross of sacrifice, will
save the people from the death caused by their sins. Furthermore, followers of Jesus are to recall
their deliverance from sin and death in a simple meal of bread and wine. In the bread they will eat of Christ’s body,
the Lamb of God. In the wine they will
drink of his blood shed for the forgiveness of their sins.
The gospel passage sheds light on the meaning of the
symbolic meal. Christ’s offering of
himself as the Lamb of God is a service of love for his followers as
demonstrated by his washing their feet. Being
cleansed from their sins by his blood, they will imitate his love with similar
works of service. They are to perform
daily such works of love for one another.
These works are as easy as a friendly greeting and as difficult as taking
time to visit the sick when we are busy.
