Two images for prayer on Holy Thursday night

Agony in the Garden by Peter Howson (click on image for larger version)





The Kiss of Judas by Giotto




 
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Homily for Holy Thursday 2011

Last Supper by Salvador Dali

We do this in memory of Jesus Christ,

our Passover, our lasting peace...

(Scriptures for this evening's liturgy)

In this holy week,

our Jewish friends and neighbors gather to celebrate the meal

whose menu was divinely determined

and delivered to Moses and Aaron

that Israel might, in every generation,

know, experience and share in the gift of the Passover Lamb.

On this holy night

we gather to celebrate that meal

whose menu was divinely determined and delivered to us

that we might, in every generation,

know, experience and share in the gift of Christ,

the Lamb of God.

What we do this night, we do in memory of Jesus Christ,

our Passover and our lasting peace.

On the night he was handed over,

Jesus sat at table with his closest friends who would, within hours,

flee, betray and deny him.

On the edge of abandonment, on the eve of agony,

he blessed, broke and shared bread, his Body,

he blessed and shared a cup, his Blood

so that in every generation he might be at table with us

who flee, betray and deny him, each of us in our own ways.

The same love that brought him to the table in the upper room

on the night before he died

brings him to this table tonight.

He comes to us, sits with us, eats with us, drinks with us,

he feeds us, he nourishes us - indeed, he is our food!

I am reminded of St. Catherine’s prayer to the Trinity.

Here are her words:

And I shall clothe myself in your eternal will,

and by this light I shall come to know

that you, eternal Trinity,

are table and food and waiter for us.

You, eternal Father, are the table

that offers us as food

the Lamb, your only-begotten Son.

He is the most exquisite of foods for us,

both in his teaching,

which nourishes us in your will,

and in the sacrament we receive in holy communion

which feeds and strengthen us

while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.

And the Holy Spirit

is indeed a waiter for us,

for the Spirit serves us this teaching

by enlightening our mind’s eye with it

and inspiring us to follow it.

And the Spirit serves us charity for our neighbors

and hunger to have as our food.

Such is the gift we celebrate this holy night,

the gift of God who is table, food and servant of us all.

And all is one in Christ who, upon the table of the Cross,

laid down the life he offers us as food for our souls

in the Bread and Cup of his Supper;

Christ, the Master, making himself the Servant,

stooping down to wash the dirty feet of friends who would,

within hours, flee, betray and deny him.

And he teaches, he call us, to do the same:

to love, to humbly serve, all -

even those who do not love us in return.

The doorposts and lintels of our hearts

have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins world,

who delivers us from death and brings us to life.

What we do this night

we do in memory of Jesus Christ

who is our Passover and our lasting peace.

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Sundown, Holy Thursday: The Triduum begins

In this painting by Sieger Koder (click on image for larger version) the Lord washes Peter's feet, the bread and the cup of the eucharist on the table nearby. As the scriptures relate, Peter is objecting and protesting Christ's humble gesture. Jesus' face is hidden in service but reflected in the water in the basin. Note the Lord's own dirty feet: he serves others, taking care of their needs, before seeing to his own...

The Paschal Triduum begins with the entrance song for the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. Lent has ended and we are about the work of the church: offering praise and thanks to God for the mercy, love and forgiveness that is ours in the dying and rising of Christ. We do this in memory of Jesus Christ, our passover and our lasting peace...

Although we easily associate the Lord's Supper and this particular liturgy with the Eucharist, the gospel for this day is John's account of the supper on the eve of Jesus' death and in this account the Eucharist is not mentioned. Rather, John presents us with Jesus the servant, washing the feet of his disciples and instructing them that just as he has done for them, so must they do for each other... And just has Christ did for them, so must we do for each other...

Most parishes will celebrate the rite called the Mandatum (from the Latin referring to the new command, the mandate Jesus gives his disciples that they should love one another.) In some communities the priest will wash the feet of 12 persons while in other communities the priest will wash the feet of a few who in turn wash the feet of others who in turn wash the feet of others... until all who so desire have had an opportunity to have their feet washed and in turn to wash another's feet...

In some earlier rites, the newly baptized were given a towel as a reminder of their mission to be of service to others...

Following the Mandatum is the liturgy of the Eucharist. Enough bread will be consecrated to provide communion for tomorrow's liturgy because the Eucharist is not celebrated on Good Friday.

Following communion, the ministers and the people process with the Eucharist to a chapel or altar where the Eucharist is kept overnight. In most places, the church remains open until midnight for people to return and pray.

After Christ's supper with his disciples on the night before he died, they went to the garden of Gethsemane where the Lord asked his friends to be with him in prayer. You'll remember from Palm Sunday's gospel that they kept falling asleep, unable to keep their eyes open. As he told them, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." This night the Lord invites us to spend some time with him in prayer. The place is less important than the time... Some may not be able to stay at church or to return later: just take some time at home to be with the Lord...



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Why I'm Still Wearing My Winter Jacket

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Wednesday of Holy Week: Spy Wednesday

Judas conspires with the Chief Priests by Fra Giovanni Angelico

Judas conspires with the Chief Priests by Fra Giovanni Angelico

Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was drawing near, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas, the one surnamed Iscariot, who was counted among the Twelve, and he went to the chief priests and temple guards to discuss a plan for handing him over to them. They were pleased and agreed to pay him money. He accepted their offer and sought a favorable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a crowd. - Luke 22:1-6

Wednesday of Holy Week is sometimes called Spy Wednesday because the gospel for today's Mass relates how Judas conspired to betray Christ and hand him over to the authorities for thirty pieces of silver.
2009LentPostCollection
Betrayal is a terrible thing. Some years ago, a person I worked with in ministry accused me of betrayal when he lost his position on a parish staff on which I also served. Whether I betrayed my colleague or not was a source of serious disagreement between us and severed our friendship. We saw the circumstances in very different ways. What I will never forget about the event was the accusation of betrayal. That I believed in my heart that I did not betray this person offered me no solace. The reality that someone I respected would name me a betrayer, of going behind his back to do him harm, left a deep and lasting wound. The wound has healed but the scar remains.

Have you been betrayed? Is there someone you have betrayed? Have you been accused of betrayal? On all sides, the accusation of betrayal is, at once, a heavy burden and a deep wound.

Benedictine priest Aidan Kavanagh wrote of the "night in which Jesus was betrayed by the worst in us all..." Judas, the betrayer, played the part for all of us who have betrayed the love of Christ in betraying one another.

Innocent and without sin, Jesus carried on his shoulders and suffered in his wounds the burden of all our betrayals...

Here's a contemporary setting of the Agnus Dei by Rufus Wainwright. This is not for every taste. What strikes me about it is the musical connection between the depths of our betrayal and sinfulness and the mercy of God: that God's mercy meets us in our sinfulness for that is where we most need the Lord, the sacrifice of his love and the gift of his reconciling pacem (peace).

This piece helps me image Judas plotting against his beloved Master and helps me look more honestly at my own betrayals of Christ. Make your way through the wrenching opening sounds that drill one's heart. The piece does not leave us in Judas' despair or our own misery - it takes us beyond to the consolation of the One who takes our sins away...

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us!
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us!
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
grant us peace!

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Holy Oils

Holy Oils and the Chrism Mass

In Holy Week, in every diocese, the bishop blesses and consecrates the holy oils to be used for the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, eucharist) at the Easter Vigil and for the celebration of the sacraments through the year until next Easter. The oils are pictured here in vessels bearing the initials of their titles, in Latin:

Oleum Catechumenorum - OC - Oil of Catechumens
Sacra Chrisma - SC - Sacred Chrism
Oleum Infirmorum - OI - Oil of the sick

The Oil of Catehcumens is used for anointing those who are preparing for baptism.

Sacred Chrism is used in celebrating the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and holy orders.

The Oil of the Sick is used for anointing those who are seriously ill.

It's customary for the priests of the diocese to gather with their bishop for the celebration of this liturgy. The oils are blessed in very large urns and then after the Mass a priest, deacon or parishioner has the parish vessels filled with the oils to bring home. Oils are stored in a cabinet called an ambry.

Over the next few days the oils will be blessed in cathedral churches around the world. In many parishes, the oils are formally presented to the parish during the entrance rite of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. As the oils are presented and received, the following words are prayed:

Oil of Catechumens
Through anointing with this oil may our catechumens who are preparing to receive the savings waters of baptism be strengthened by Christ to resist the power of Satan and reject evil in all its forms.

Sacred Chrism
Through anointing with this perfumed Chrism may children and adults, who are baptized and confirmed, and presbyters, who are ordained, experience the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit.

Oil of the Sick
May the sick who are anointed with this oil experience the compassion of Christ and his saving love, in body and soul.

As the Chrism Mass is celebrated in your diocese, pray 

    - for those who are preparing for the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil

    - for those who will be baptized, confirmed and ordained in the year ahead; 

    - and for the sick and the dying seeking healing and strength

WORD for the Triduum and Easter Sunday

If ever there is a time when preparing for the liturgy by reading and praying over the scriptures is critical, it's in Holy Week! The scriptures are plentiful, rich and beautifully instructive of the rites we celebrate and their roots in the story of Israel.

Visit the St. Louis University site to find the scripture passages and helpful background material on those texts. Got kids? Then check out the Sadlier site to help your children prepare to hear the Word on Easter Sunday morning.


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Blessings to you this Holy Week!

John McGinty over at Both Sides Now has an excellent post on Holy Week. Please be sure to read what follows here and then jump to his page for the rest.

Blessings to you this Holy Week!

As the church gathers this week, intent on being with Jesus from his entry into Jerusalem through his giving of the Eucharist, his self-offering on the Cross, his dying and entry into the ultimate quiet, to the moment (everlasting) of Resurrection, somehow – as in all of the most significant moments of life – I think of you.

Each year this week provides such an invitation to consider the paschal mystery in Jesus’ life, and so in ours as well. I have been thinking more in recent years of the necessity for me of not racing past the crucifixion to get to the empty tomb and the reality of new life.

And so this Thursday tells me that community in my life is vitally important. That importance is most revealed at unrepeatable moments of either joy or sorrow. But it is true everyday. To live is to belong together.

This Friday confronts me with the fact that the stuff I most fear I ultimately will have to face. I must as well run toward it, rather than away from it. To do so is more reality-based, and somehow, always, in confronting reality we find the real God right there.

This Saturday makes real the moments of in-between-ness when nothing seems to be happening, and yet much that is about to be born is awaiting its time. Those times, that can feel (in American cultural terms) like a waste of time, may be some of the most vital times of all.

And next Sunday! What does it say to you and me? What does it sing? What does it shout out? What does it reveal in a blaze of color – color not that the eye sees (though that too!), but colors that the heart knows, colors that embrace the soul and renew hope as a reality that is at times even more vital than faith and love, the greatest gift of all?

Next Sunday reveals God alive forever – both human and divine – both willing and able to share that life with us. After we have known the delight and the failure of our own communities. After we have run into and through our own sufferings. After we have lain fallow in the quiet for a time. Next Sunday introduces us to Jesus in a moment that is new every time it happens, and in a way that makes known his significance to all the world – to those who have met him and those who have not, to the conscious world and the entire world of creation.

"He is risen!"

I wish you, with all my heart, all the joy to which this week beckons us...

(John's reflection continues here)



 
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Bloggers gather at Vatican

On April 8 the Vatican announced a gathering of 150 bloggers from around the world to participate in a one day program of panels and discussion in Rome.  Bloggers were invited to apply for one of the 150 seats.  (Yours truly did not.)  The results have been announced and more details on the selection process, too.

I'm pleased that three bloggers I read daily have a seat at the table:

Phil at Blue Eyed Ennis

Elizabeth at The Anchoress

and Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia.

Congratulations to all and in a special way to these three!

Wondering who's on the invitation list?

Here's all of them and links to their pages (scroll down after the jump).

 
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Happy Passover!

I pray a happy Passover for our Jewish brothers and sisters!

Passover begins at sundown on Tuesday, April 19, and will continue for 7 days until Monday, April 25.

For a quick overview of Passover, take a look here.

Over at  To Bend Light, Alden Solovy offers us some beautiful Passover prayers which I heartily commend to your attention and your own prayer.

I've been pleased to post on this page a number of Alden's "prayers from a Jewish heart" and I take this opportunity to wish Alden and his family a happy and healthy Passover. 

Catholic Christians keep their celebration of Passover in the Paschal Triduum which begins at sundown this Thursday, April 21 with the celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper and ends with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday, April 24.

 

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