Living the Mystery of the Last Supper
April 13, 2006 Holy Thursday-Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper (B) - White
First Reading: Exodus 12:1-8,11-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 116 "Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ"
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: John 13:1-15
"I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."
With tonight’s celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we solemnly begin the Easter Triduum of our Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. This is when we, the People of God, gather together as one family to join in the celebration of the most Holy Eucharist, which is the sole celebration of the mass today. This is the night, when we Christians, gather together to reminisce the very night when Jesus started his passion through the partaking of his Last Supper. On this most solemn night, the Lord does not only remind us to celebrate his Last Supper, his total giving of himself in his body and blood, but he reminds us to follow his unselfish love, brotherly service and unconditional relationship with his disciples, with us, his brothers and sisters in faith.
Tonight’s celebration of the Last Supper brings us three commemorations that are fundamental in our Christian Life. These three things are those instituted by Christ in the first Last Supper, which he entrusted to his beloved friends at the Cenacle, the Upper Room. These three things are now handed on to us for us celebrate, believe in, and live.
1. The Holy Eucharist as a sacrament of God’s love. Very often do we come together to celebrate the mass. Every Sunday, we come together to celebrate the Lord’s memory in the Holy Mass, as a sign of our fraternity and solidarity with the Church and as thanksgiving to God. Little did we know that this Eucharist is solemnly instituted by Christ to serve as an unending pact/covenant of love between him, God and his people. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus ate and celebrated the passover with his disciples in what we know as his Last Supper. The formula we use today is traced back to the original blessing Christ uttered on that supper table, "This is my body…This is my blood…do this in remembrance of me." This act of total self-giving in the form of bread and wine alludes to his death on the cross. That’s why in our second reading, the apostle Paul invites us to "proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again," for us to live the memorial of this unending sacrifice. This Last Supper is the start of God’s love story in the context of the Paschal Triduum.
2. The Sacrament of Priesthood as service for others. This very night, Jesus instituted the sacrament of priesthood through washing his disciples’ feet. The very essence of priesthood is by totally serving others…unconditionally. The feet are the externally dirtiest part of men’s bodies. These are used for walking and they touch the ground. Unless we wash our feet, they will remain dirty and blemished and the priests are here to cleanse these dirty feet. They are here to help us cleanse our spirituality. The priests live in total service of cleaning ourselves to renew a new life. Maybe, what we see now in priesthood, we "do not understand now, but" we "will understand later." And so, when we see our priests take a towel and tie it around their waists, and pour water into a basin and begin to wash others’ feet, we should also become other priests, ready to be in service for others.
3. Christ’s Commandement of Brotherly Love as a uniting source. Jesus did not forget his disciples. When he knew that his time had come, he gave them something to remember him, something that will unite them even though he’s gone. Christ gave them his commandment of brotherly love: "Love one another, as I have loved you." He did this for he knew, without love, the disciples will be fearful and they will eventually lose their faith in one another. Hence, he gave this commandment and even concretized it by his washing of their feet. "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet." And so it was, loving others is not simply showing them you care for them and by merely hugging and/or kissing them, but loving others entails kneeling in service to wash one another’s feet. Loving unconditionally will then unite us as Christ’s followers.
And so we are gathered this very night to watch over Christ and join him on his way to Calvary. His teaching does not end here, but it continues on the cross where immense love will be shown. His Last Supper is a testimony for us Christians that we are indeed a People of God, a People of Love. The bread and wine that we bless is a communion with Christ, and with others. And we ought to live these things not only tonight, but everyday of our lives. For Christ gave himself as a model to be followed, so should we become models as Christ did.
Liturgical Notes:
1. The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper is the start of the Triduum. It is the only mass celebrated on the day (with the exeption of the Chrism Mass in the morning at certain basilicas).
2. The church bells are rung with great joy during the singing of the Gloria. They all remain silent until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil. Clappers, wooden instruments are used to replace the bells during consecration and Eucharistic procession.
3. The Washing of the Feet is done after the homily. The 12 disciples must represent a cross-section of the Church community.
4. There must be a sufficient number of hosts to be consecrated for tonight and tomorrow. There will be no Eucharist (consecration of hosts) tomorrow.
5. The transfer of the Eucharist to the altar of repose is done right after the post communion prayer. The priest is dressed with the cope, and the Eucharist is processed around the Church before transferred to the altar of repose. Upon reaching the altar, the priest places the ciborium in the tabernacle and incenses it. After incensing, the tabernacle is closed. The clergy leave in silence. The adoration is only until midnight. After midnight, the Eucharist will be transferred to a place (altar of reposition) outside the Church.
6. The altar is stripped. Nothing may remain on the altar.
7. The mass does not end for there is one single unity formed by the liturgies of tonight, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. This liturgy ends only with the Mass of Easter Vigil.
8. The Evening Prayer is said only by those who did not attend this evening’s services.
