Holy Thursday — 2016/03/24

The highest point in the Church's calendar is called the "Sacred Triduum," the three days which begin with the Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening of Holy Thursday and end at the end of Easter Sunday. Technically, Lent ends with the beginning of the Sacred Triduum, but Good Friday is a day of required fast and abstinence for those in the age brackets to which it applies, and the faithful are encouraged to maintain the fast all the way from the Mass of the Lord's Supper until the Easter Vigil. Thus, even though Lent is over, the celebration doesn't begin until Easter, after the vigil service on Saturday night.


The Mass of the Lord's Supper, as its name indicates, commemorates Jesus' last supper with his disciples before his arrest, trial, and death on the cross. The first reading — Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 — gives the prescriptions for the Israelites' first Passover, celebrated the night before their exodus from Egypt, with its sacrificial lamb and unleavened bread.

We see the lamb, whose blood protected the Israelites from the the destroying angel, as a prefiguring of Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he called him "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Jesus' offering of himself, his self-sacrifice, redeems us from our sinfulness. We will be able to leave the Egypt of slavery to sin and ultimately enter the promised land of heaven.

The unleavened bread prefigures the bread of the Lord's Supper. In John 6, Jesus said that we must eat his body and drink his blood to have life, and he said that the bread he would give us is his flesh. The gospels suggest that the Last Supper was the Passover meal. At it, Jesus fulfills the promise of his flesh and blood by identifying the unleavened bread as his body and the cup of wine as his blood. We believe that at every Mass, the sacrifice of Calvary is made present as it was at the Last Supper. That is why the priest repeats John the Baptist's words, "Behold the Lamb of God … who takes away the sins of the world."


In the responsorial psalm — Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18, with a refrain based on 1 Corinthians 10:16 — we anticipate the next reading and reflect on death and sacrifice.


The second reading —1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — gives us Paul's account of Jesus' institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It was written before the gospels, and witnesses to the tradition which informed them. Jesus declares that the bread he shares is his body, that is for them, and the wine is the new covenant in his blood. They are to repeat his action in remembrance of him — proclaiming his death until he returns.


The choice of John 13:1-15 for the gospel may seem surprising: why not one of the synoptics, with their accounts of the institution of the Eucharist? For one thing, we already have the equivalent in the second reading. For another, we have the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi) to underline the doctrine of the Real Presence. The account of Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples, and commanding them to serve one another, following his example, shows us what the effect of our participation at Mass must be. Jesus didn't give us his body and blood, sacrificed on Calvary, for their own sake. They are to gives us a life conformed to his life, a life of love for one another and of the service which naturally flows from that love. In the Latin the Church used for centuries, the word for "commandment" that Jesus uses is "mandatum," which, in an anglicized form, "maundy" gives the title under which this day is often designated: Maundy Thursday.

Christians' participation in the Body and Blood of the Lord must lead to loving service. I think Pope Francis is re-emphasing this point for us.

Easter 2015

Easter is the central celebration of the Christian year, because the central belief of Christianity is that Jesus died and rose from the dead. There is so much to this belief, and it is such a basis for celebration that we take three days to explicate it — from the evening of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday (the Sacred Triduum). Through our baptism we participate in Jesus' saving death and are given a share in his resurrected life.


Holy Thursday  The triduum begins with a commemoration of the Last Supper. First, there is a reading from Exodus, telling of the Passover, with its sacrificial lamb and unleavened bread. (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14) We see the lamb, whose blood protected the Israelites from the the destroying angel, as a prefiguring of Jesus; and the unleavened bread prefigures the bread of the Lord's Supper.

Next we hear St. Paul's account of the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) in which Jesus declares that the bread he shares is his body, that is for them, and the wine is the new covenant in his blood. They are to repeat his action in remembrance of him — proclaiming his death until he returns.

The third reading is from the Gospel of John (John 13:1-15). This is the account of Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples, and commanding them to serve one another, following his example.

Christians' participation in the Body and Blood of the Lord must lead to loving service. I think Pope Francis is re-emphasing this point for us.


Good Friday  We continue with a consideration of the trials, suffering, and death of Jesus. As on Holy Thursday, our first reading is from the Hebrew Scriptures. This time it's from Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13 — 53:12). This is a passage about a servant of the Lord who is led like a lamb to the slaughter — bearing our guilt as he is tortured and killed — but who ultimately has life and takes away the sins of many. Next, the Epistle to the Hebrews (4;14-16; 5:7-9) speaks of Jesus' obedience the the Father as the thing that makes him the source of salvation for all who obey him as well as our eternal high priest. On Good Friday, the gospel reading is the Passion according to St. John, which shows a Jesus who willingly goes to his death on the cross to accomplish the purpose for which he came into the world. (The synoptic Gospel accounts of the passion are read on Palm Sunday year by year.)

Jesus' sufferings and death, willingly accepted, bring redemption from sin to the human race.


Easter Vigil  On the night before Easter Sunday, the Church keeps vigil. It was believed that Jesus would return when he rose from the dead, at dawn on Easter.

The service of the Easter Vigil is focused on Baptism. In ancient times, it was when people could be baptized (with a make-up at Pentecost for those who for some good reason couldn't be present at Easter). So the readings explore the meaning of baptism. Central is the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea (Exodus 14:15 - 15:1), which is seen as an image of our rescue from sin through baptism. Other readings tell of the creation of the world — with baptism being understood as a new creation — and of God's promises of life to his people. Then a reading from Romans (6:3-11) tells us that our baptism joins us to Jesus' death, bringing also a participation in his risen life. Finally, we hear one of the synoptic gospels of the discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus and the announcement by the angels of his resurrection.

The baptized have the promise of personal resurrection and eternal life.


Easter Sunday  John's Gospel (John 20:1-9) tells of the finding of the empty tomb of Jesus, first by Mary Magdalene,  then by John and Peter. The first reading (Acts 10: 34a, 37-43) gives us a homily by St. Peter in which he testifies to the death and resurrection of Jesus and says that those who believe in him have forgiveness of sins. Then we either hear Colossians 3:1-4, telling us that we have died with Christ and share his life, or a passage from 1 Corinthians (5:6b-8) which brings us full circle to the unleavened bread of the Passover and the Paschal Lamb.

Jesus, our Paschal Lamb is risen and shares his life with us.


Our celebration of the Lord's resurrection will continue through the fifty days of the Easter Season to Pentecost. as we hear the gospel accounts of his appearances after his resurrection and consider the meaning of our participation in his life.

Sacred Triduum, 2012

As I write this, we're in the middle of the Sacred Triduum, the three days that begin with the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday and culminate with the Easter Vigil's celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. We recall that God is with us always, even in our suffering and pain, and that we have the promise of resurrection to eternal life, because Jesus has conquered sin and death for us.

Happy Easter to all my readers, whether you share my Christian faith or whether for you it's just another Sunday in April.