Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024
(Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper)
We are one in the spirit
Sitting by the pool at our apartment, my friend and I find much to talk about, as the sun rises in the sky. What was a gray cold morning morphs into a sweet sunny afternoon. There are parts to each of our lives, and we talk from part to part, from work to family and finally to spirit.
We read the words of Aelred about friendship and the Holy Spirit.
Here we are, you and I, and a third, the Holy Spirit, is in our midst. There is no one now to disturb us; there is no one to break in upon our friendly chat, no man’s prattle or noise of any kind will creep into this pleasant solitude. Come now, beloved, open your heart, and pour into these friendly ears whatsoever you will, and let us accept gracefully the boon of this place, time, and leisure.
All our talk together slips away into the silence these words invite. The blue water in the pool splashes against the sides. Two birds call to each other from tree to tree. We look into each other’s eyes and do not speak. We sit still in the light warm breeze. We are still. We are living this moment together.
And I recall one of Ron Rolheiser’s thoughts in Sacred Fire, as he thinks about prayer in community:
It is said that whatever does not kill you makes you stronger. True – though sometimes things will kill you, if you face them alone. (p. 198)
I know Jesus spent early mornings in solitary prayer, but after this time with his Abba he was constantly in community.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.
Those communities of hurting people, whose members knew each other all too well, might be reluctant at first to welcome an outsider, even a healer like Jesus.
Even a healer like Jesus? But Jesus didn’t heal from the outside, he knew these new people as friends, and I imagine they felt his touch and their healing from the inside out.
The Lord has sent me to comfort all who mourn, to place on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
On the first day of the triduum, Jesus sits with his disciples at the Passover feast, at their Last Supper together. They sit around the table, tasting the bitter herbs and the lamb, drinking from the chalice of wine, breaking the unleavened bread.
Then Jesus brings the new covenant to them out of the old traditions … this is my body … this is my blood … do this in remembrance of me. Because I am leaving soon.
And Jesus speaks to his friends, his community of brothers and sisters, about how the Holy Spirit will keep them bound together, as Jesus did in the three years they spent together. Because it’s in community that God’s life in each of us comes to life, like tongues of fire.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
(Evening Mass: Exodus 12, Psalm 116, 1 Corinthians 11, John 13 … Chrism Mass: Isaiah 61, Psalm 89, Revelation 1, Luke 4)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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