Holy Thursday, in the Evening, begins the Easter Triduum of the Lord’ Solemnity Passion, Death and Resurrection
Also Read: Mass Readings for 28 March 2024
Gospel: John 13: 1-15
‘Can I wash you?’ Jesus is asking you.
Jesus did not bother to ask this question before washing his disciples’ feet. But Peter made him ask the question. Only with the express permission of Peter did Jesus continue. Everyone was invited and Jesus was the host. When you accept His invitation, you have to let Him wash you. Jesus sets this strange condition. Nowadays when we accept an invitation to dinner, it is our responsibility to present the best of ourselves to the table. But Jesus is different. Because He knows that with all our efforts, we will not be clean enough for His table.
Let Jesus cleanse you so that you may be perfect at his table. Jesus has invited you and me to his august table. He has invited us, even though we are not clean enough for his table. It is not another casual invitation to let go easily. If you care to be at his table, let him cleanse you and feed you with his choice of food and drink, his body and his blood.
When we show up at the confessional, we let Jesus cleanse us. When we participate in the holy mass with proper preparation, we allow Jesus to feed us with his fine delicacies. When the man and woman receive the sacrament of marriage, they allow Jesus to purify their love. With all the other sacraments, we allow Jesus to make us cleaner, stronger, and closer to Him. When we read the Bible daily and have our daily personal and family prayers, we are letting Jesus help us walk closer to Him.
At the end of the meal, He commanded His disciples to repeat what He did; clean each other and feed each other; not as an annoying duty but as an expression of the intense shared love for Jesus that we have to love and forgive. When we forgive each other, we are actually cleansing ourselves and others for Jesus’ banquet. Except for love, Jesus left no conditions for the banquet or the preparatory washing.
Earlier seeing a crowd of more than five thousand, Jesus commanded his disciples to feed them, although there were only five loaves left to share. Even if you have started with an empty basket and wish to share at His command, your basket will never go empty. Remember, the Eucharist has not ceased ever since the first Eucharist was celebrated.
During these sacred hours let us approach His table so that He may wash us and feed us with his sacred banquet.
Amen
