HOLY THURSDAY - EVENING MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER - Gospel (John 13:1-15)
- NHA CHUA CHA
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
FIRST READING - Ex 12:1-8, 11-14
The Passover Ritual Prescribed
A reading from the Exodus
[a] 1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 [b]This month will stand at the head of your calendar; you will reckon it the first month of the year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every family must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a lamb, it along with its nearest neighbor will procure one, and apportion the lamb’s cost[c] in proportion to the number of persons, according to what each household consumes. 5 Your lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole community of Israel assembled, it will be slaughtered during the evening twilight. 7 They will take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They will consume its meat that same night, eating it roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
SECOND READING - 1 Cor 11:23-26
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord."
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
23 [a]For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, 24 and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Jn 13:1-15
"He loved them to the end."
✠From the Gospel according to John
13 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. 5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. 6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[a] but he is clean all over; and you[b] are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “You are not all clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
HOLY THURSDAY - EVENING MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER - Gospel (John 13:1-15)
Dear people of God,
In today's Word of God, the Lord renews the covenant He made with the people of Israel while they were enslaved in Egypt.
This covenant was sealed by God with the blood of an unblemished lamb according to His instructions.
Each family was to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and apply its blood to the doorposts.
That night, God would pass through the land of Egypt; any house marked with the blood of the lamb—a sign that they belonged to God's people—would be spared, and they would not suffer the plague when God struck the land of Egypt; those without the mark would be destroyed.
All who followed His instructions were saved.
This is what God is calling upon humanity to do: to always live in intimate union with God the Father through the covenant, for He declared that this covenant would be kept for all generations.
The image of the covenant in the past was the blood of an unblemished lamb, and over two thousand years ago, this covenant was sealed by the very blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came into the world as man, sacrificed Himself, and died to redeem the sins of all.
This love originates from the heart of God the Father.
Out of love for humanity, He sent His only Son into the world as man to accompany and remain with mankind until the end of time.
He is love itself, and it was out of love that He established the covenant.
He loves all people who remain in this world, and He loves them to the end.
It must be said that in this world, there is no love as great as the love God has for humanity.
Furthermore, He sacrificed himself, humbling Himself deeply to become man, suffering, enduring trials, and dying to pay the price in blood to redeem humanity from the captivity of Satan.
This image is expressed by God through the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came into the world as man.
On the very night He was betrayed, Jesus Christ performed an act of love for humanity by leaving the table, girding Himself, and serving by kneeling to wash His disciples' feet.
This is an act, a shining example of service, through which God wishes to teach His children: love one another, serve one another with the very love that God demonstrated.
Before Jesus was led to His death, He taught His disciples: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
This is the invitation that God the Father wishes all His children to direct their lives toward God and to be united with their brothers and sisters.
Unity here is love, which means loving God above all things and loving one's neighbor as oneself.
In today's Word of God, the Lord invites all humanity to be humble, to abase themselves, to stoop down and serve, to wash feet, to support, and to love their fellow human beings, just as Jesus Christ once said to His disciples: “If I, therefore, the Master and Lord, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.”
This invitation will echo until the end of time.
Sacrifice yourselves as Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for humanity so that people may enjoy eternal life.
Today's Word of God also reveals that God loves humanity to the utmost; He has found a way to remain with people in all places and at all times.
This image is made present through the Eucharist, when He established a covenant with humanity through His own Body and Blood.
He remains with humanity so that people may be conformed to His image in all places and at all times.
When people are determined to live according to the teachings of God the Father and long for Him to dwell within their hearts, He invites all humanity, His children, to:
Come to the Eucharist, which is the Sacrament of love, the very Body and Blood of God's only Son.
Pray for Him to dwell within your heart, to accompany, nourish, and keep you from the captivity of Satan. For the Eucharist is the divine food God provides to nourish humanity.
God always accompanies and remains with humanity forever, in all places and at all times.
Especially, He is present in the Eucharist, which is Jesus Christ Himself, the only Son of God who came into the world as man, who voluntarily sacrificed Himself to die and become the humble bread, so that people may receive Him into their souls to be nourished and granted eternal life.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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