Today’s readings: Click on today’s date at http://www.usccb.org/bible/
Body and blood
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Holy Thursday of the Tridium
1 Corinthians 11:26, Exodus 12:11
As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes … eat it with your loins girded, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand. Eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the Lord.
It’s a dark and stormy night. Huddled in exhausted family groups, we are waiting. In our ancestral memory we wait for the passing of the thunder and the wind, and for the coming of the Lord.
“We are safe, we don’t need to fear. We are led, and we are safe to follow.” We comfort each other and tell the stories we know already about God’s faithfulness.
“Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Lamb of God, grant us your peace. Christ, have mercy.”
We eat the simple food and the children mourn the passing of their favorite lamb. This food will give us strength for the journey. How sweet it is, and how tender on our tongues. And the wine – it seems better tonight than ever before. Then there is the water, touched with lemon, to drink and drink. Now … for later.
How intent the angels are around us. They encourage us; and when the wind comes, they will lead us. “Go this way! Stop. Turn around. The mud, the mud, you have to get through the mud! And at the shore of the sea, nowhere to go, the waters, they will part.”
This is the night of remembrance and freedom. Even and especially in this night of death, we are not alone. We go in peace.
Our celebration is ending, Lord, and you are about to be taken away. But the poor we always will have with us, the poor we will always be. And there you will be also. Even as we sob in our anguish, we can feel a touch from your hand, because you haven’t left us alone for long.
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