Holy Thursday - The Mass of the Lord's Supper - First of April 2021- (Ep -289)

Holy Thursday - The Mass of the Lord's Supper - First of April 2021

SPCP

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Exodus 12: 1-8. 11-14
Psalm: Ps 115: 12-13. 15-18. R. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the blood of Christ.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
Gospel Acclamation: John 13: 34
Gospel: John 13: 1-15
Homily
Washing of Feet

 

Shutterstock licensed image - ID: 44110603. Medieval fresco depicting Washing of feet at Last Supper. In Gelati Church near Kutaisi, Georgia. By jorisvo
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Please listen to my audio recordings of Mass and homily for Holy Thursday, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ep-289-holy-thursday-2021 -  (EPISODE: 289 )
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Prologue:   On the night before Our Lord died; knowing the suffering and death he was to endure, (willingly for our sake), Jesus showed the depth of his love, his generosity and compassion, just as he had shown it in every part of his life and ministry. At this intense time of emotion and fear, he did not withdraw into himself but did quite the opposite, he reached out in compassion to give his disciples something more of himself. The gift he gave them, the Eucharist, encapsulates all his love and ministry and would help them, (and us) always.  This is the last supper.  And this truly is Faith, Hope and Love. 

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This night is the culmination of ancient and most holy events; - In a way that brings them all into unity; -

THE ANCIENT AND HOLY GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, TO COMMEMORATE the great event of the PASSOVER, which Our Lord, as a faithful member of the Jewish faith also longed to celebrate; - Calls to mind the covenant God made with his people, that he would be Our God, and we would be his people, and that he would save us, and guide us, leading us to PASS-OVER from slavery to freedom, and PASS-OVER from death into new life.

And then, with his disciples, in the midst of the Passover meal, at that last supper, in the upper room specially prepared, Jesus did a new thing, in the midst of the very ancient actions, Yet, this NEW THING that Jesus did was perfectly connected to the OLD; - Jesus, connected the Passover, with his life and suffering and death- and with his eventual resurrection, Jesus made himself the Passover lamb; - The innocent and spotless offering slaughtered to free the people from sin and re-establish God's covenant; - And so, Jesus perfected and renewed this ancient covenant, in his own blood. Christ gave us a perfect way of accessing this promise and renewing the promise- every time we gather at Eucharist; to take and eat- take and drink- we proclaim Our Lord's death until he comes again, and this sharing in the one cup and the one bread, it is a communion in the blood of Christ, as St Paul so wonderfully puts it; -

Every time we celebrate Eucharist, we offer our lives, our hopes and dreams- our successes and failures, to our God, through Jesus' perfect offering of himself, we are joined to Christ as a perfect gift that includes us and all who are dear to us; - And echo Jesus' action, which is to offer his whole self and what he was to suffer, for the salvation of the world; -

And Jesus went further, he washed the feet of his disciples, it is ironic, on the night when we celebrate Jesus instituting the Eucharist- and establishing the priesthood. John's Gospel, we hear tonight, does not mention the words of institution, -that is the "Take and eat – this is My Body," "take and drink- this is my blood." … But this is no accident. John's gospel- the last of the gospels written, (Mark being the earliest, Luke and Matthew later;-- but St Paul's letters were the earliest writings of all, they all mention these holy words and actions. However, by the time John's gospel came to be written, the Eucharist was so revered, recognised as so holy, that he spoke of it in the most profound way, in different parts of his gospel, in somewhat subtle tones, but at the last supper, John goes to the heart of the meaning of the Eucharist by featuring the incident of the washing of the feet, to show that Eucharist and service, are inseparable, Eucharist and justice are essentially inter-connected.; - // Eucharist and Jesus giving every drop of his blood, sacrificing absolutely everything out of love and service for us- to save us, is the very heart of the meaning of the Mass, and of the call to serve the people in priesthood- and in fact in the vocation of each and every disciple; -

 We have the most excellent and perfect teacher and master in Christ, whose simplicity, poverty, humility and love and charity establishes, perfects and gives meaning to service, Eucharist, sacrifice and communion; -

We are simply taking Christ as our model. Jesus deserves every possible honour, every privilege, every right, and precedent. and yet who stripped himself of all that was rightfully his and took on the form of a slave, to save us all; - . he spared NOTHING for himself to GIVE all for others; -

This holy night- at the start of the holy THREE days, let us take (again) as our model, Christ, let us continue to "do this in memory of me", as we commit ourselves to service, sacrifice, generosity; - Forgiveness; - . compassion and, let all these actions flow from motivating core of the heart and mind of our master, the Lord, Jesus Christ, who came in love, served in love, healed in love, and died in love; -.

May we be ever-faithful to the Eucharist- and to the priestly call to service; - . and like Christ, pour ourselves out in love and service for others; -

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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly

Shutterstock licensed image - ID: 44110603. Medieval fresco depicting Washing of feet at Last Supper. In Gelati Church near Kutaisi, Georgia. By jorisvo

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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope, and Love, A time of Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins- **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011, Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the; - Gloria,: http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/ ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/

"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

Lenten Hymn: "Have Mercy" inspired by Psalm 50(51). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020.

[ Production - KER - 2021]

May God bless and keep you.

Holy Thursday


(EPISODE: 289)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life: Lord, have mercy// //
Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins: Christ, have mercy//
Lord Jesus, you feed us with your body and blood: Lord, have mercy//

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

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When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.


Preface: Proper of Holy Thursday

Eucharistic prayer I – proper for Holy Thursday
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(No dismissal, community departs in silent adoration and contemplation, to gather again on Good Friday)