Holy Thursday, April 21, 2011

Readings: 

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14

 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

 John 13:1-15

 

Calendar:

April 19: The Jewish observance of Passover begins at sundown,

April 21: Holy Thursday

April 22: Good Friday

April 22:  Earth Day http://www.earthday.org/  

April 23: Holy Saturday

April 24: Easter

April 25: World Malaria Day

 

Quotes:

 

“The washing of the feet and the sacrament of the Eucharist: two expressions of one and the same mystery of love entrusted to the disciples, so that, Jesus says, "as I have done... so also must you do" (Jn 13: 15).”

John Paul II, Holy Thursday 2003

 

The Eucharist is a mode of being, which passes from Jesus into each Christian, through whose testimony it is meant to spread throughout society and culture.

--John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine

 

In the Eucharist our God has shown love in the extreme, overturning all those criteria of power which too often govern human relations and radically affirming the criterion of service: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mc 9:35). It is not by chance that the Gospel of John contains no account of the institution of the Eucharist, but instead relates the “washing of feet” (cf. Jn 13:1-20): by bending down to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus explains the meaning of the Eucharist unequivocally.

--John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine

 

We have a lot of work to do. Every time we reach out and assuage someone's hunger, and do that in memory of Jesus, a sense of Eucharist will bring to consciousness the Spirit and the real presence of Jesus - in us, through us, among us. That Spirit alone is capable of transforming the world and us.

--Miriam Therese Winter, MMS

 

 

Thoughts for your consideration:

 

Today we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist.  We are a community that shares bread with one another.  Sharing a meal defines who we are and who we want to become.  This solidarity is one of our core values and it defines our social teaching.   As we share the Eucharist we are called to create a world where resources are shared for the common good and all people are welcomed and respected.  This is what we desire.  This is what we work for.   Our life is to be a living Eucharist.  Putting our social teaching into practice makes the Eucharist a living reality.

 

Today we celebrate the washing of feet.  Our faith is about more than our own personal needs. Service of others and the common good is what being a follower of Jesus is about.  Jesus says: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." Service, especially to the poor and all those in need, is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching.  As we focus on others, we focus on the values that are central to our social teaching. Our life is to be an ongoing “washing of feet.”

 

The interaction between Jesus and Peter reminds us of the mutuality of service that is essential to our social teaching.  Peter, along with all the other disciples, is told to go and do the same, but first he is also told that he has to have his own feet washed.  The Christian community is not a community of “domination over,” or a community where some have it and others do not, or a community divided by those in need and those not in need. We all need to serve and we all need to be served. In community we share our needs as well as our gifts with each other.  Without this attitude Catholic Social Teaching will be a shallow charity.  Without this attitude we will not be able to create a true community. Our life is to be one of mutual “right relationship.”

 

 

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• Does the economic recession of the last few years and the divisive political climate in our nation call you in some way to look at the Eucharist and the Washing of Feet in some new way? 
• How does it challenge the values that have gotten our economy in trouble?
• How does it challenge us to reform and renewal?
• How does it challenge us to act in the political world?

 

Jesus’ washing of the feet is a powerful sacrament of service and love. Share an experience of witnessing humble service.

• How did it touch you?
• How were you challenged?

 

 

Actions – Links:

As we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, we recall the scandal of hunger in our world.  Bread for the World has worked for over thirty years as a Christian voice for ending hunger.  Go to: http://www.bread.org/   The ONE Campaign is an effort supported by Bread for the World to rally Americans -- ONE by ONE -- to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty.  Go to: http://www.one.org/

 

“Crazy Facts:”

“We live in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet 13 percent of people living in the United States live in poverty. Nearly one in four children live in households that struggle to put food on the table. That's 16.7 million children.”  http://www.bread.org/hunger/us/

“Nearly one in four children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, one in three children is at risk of hunger. Source: Household Food Security in the United States, 2008 PDF Icon. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, November 2009. (Table 1B, Table 6).” http://www.bread.org/hunger/us/facts.html

The recently passed US budget for the rest of the fiscal year has includes:

• $600 million in cuts to community health centers.
• A $1 billion cut to HIV and disease-prevention funds.
• A $3 billion cut to agriculture programs, the biggest portion of which comes from the Women Infants and Children fund, which loses $504 million.
• A $390 million cut to low-income heating assistance; Community Development Funds are cut by $942 million.

 

Prayers of Intersession:

 

Response: God, bring us together as one people.

For all those who do not have enough to eat this evening, we pray….

For all those who do not have a home this evening, we pray….

For all those who live in fear of war, terrorism, and violence, we pray….

For all those who need to be set free from political and economic oppression, we pray….

For all those called to service, especially to service of those most in need, we pray….

For our church, that we may be renewed in the spirit of Jesus, we pray….

 

 

Prayer

 

Father-Mother-God

            Sister-Brother-God

                        Friend-Companion-God

                                    Mystery-God

 

Thanks for sight

            sight that comes in Jesus

                        insight about ourselves and the world

                                    insight about the way of Jesus

                                                  the way of compassionate love.

 

Thanks for life and all that nourishes life

            the food of bread and grain,

                        fruits and vegetables,

                                    meat and fish,

                                                milk and all proteins

            air and water

                        sun and breeze

                                    earth and sea

                                                space and mystery

            friend and companion

                        stranger and refugee

                                    young and old

                                                the familiar and the new.

 

Thanks for the life of the spirit

            for prayer and meditation

                        for silence and sound

                                    for sacrament and scripture

                                                for community and tradition

            for poverty and wealth

                        for wisdom shared

                                    for conversation and silence

                                                for unity and diversity.

 

Thanks for all the challenges

            for the call

                        to act for justice

                                    to serve others

                                                to live in peace

            for the feelings that teach us

                        to know ourselves and others and you

                                    to be restless for what is right

                                                to speak out for what is good

                                                            to witness to what is of God.

 

Glory to you through all the ages! Amen!

 

--Lectionary Reflection by Fr. John Bucki, S.J.