Maundy Thursday, 9 April 2020
Today we enter the Paschal Triduum, or Great Three Days, the most holy, solemn days in the Christian liturgical calendar. If we open our hearts and let the Liturgy, actions and words sink into our hearts, it can be life-transforming.
Beginning on Maundy Thursday, Jesus enters into the final conflict with darkness which includes His betrayal, arrest, scourging and ultimately His death on the cross. On this evening, our Lord does and leaves with His disciples and us several important things:
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The institution of the Lord’s Supper
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The New Commandment
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A call to serve
For this reason it is called Maundy, which derives from the Latin mandatum novum (new commandment). He tells the Church, “A new Commandment I give to you, that you should love one another even as I have loved you.” By demonstrating divine love to humanity, Jesus redefines and raises the bar of love. We are all in the process of becoming and learning the love of Christ.
Divine humility
The practice of foot washing was common in the Eastern world at that time. Because of the dust in the dry climate and the wearing of sandals, when guests entered a home, a servant would bring a basin and wash their feet. Jesus chooses to reverse the social rules: He, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, washed the feet of His disciples – to everyone’s surprise. He reached the highest point of His service to humanity by dying on the cross. This narrative is much more striking if we gaze intently at its simplicity and His divine humility. The King of kings, the Creator of heaven and earth, washed the feet of His disciples – His followers and students. I wonder what that says to us and to the world.
