Reflection for Thursday, April 2, 2015

Holy Thursday

EX 12: 1-8, 11-14

PS 116: 12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18

1 COR 11: 23-26

JN 13: 1-15

Imagine yourself at the last supper with the apostles when Jesus takes bread and proclaims it to be His body, and then takes wine and turns it into His blood. After doing this, He tells you, along with the apostles, that you are to “do this in remembrance of me.” How would you feel to be in that room? Would you understand the symbolism in what He was doing?

Keep that scene in you mind as you consider the gospel acclamation and the gospel story for today. In these, Jesus not only falls to His hands and knees and washes the feet of those with Him, but He also reminds us to “love one another as I have loved you” and to “wash one another’s feet [because] I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” In these moments, Jesus is giving us the model of servant leadership. He is literally giving of Himself at the last supper, and he is humbling Himself before us as He washes the apostles feet.

Many of us have spent the past few weeks fasting, sacrificing various items, or doing good deeds in order to grow closer to God and to be in solidarity with Jesus Christ as He makes the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. However, in these readings we are reminded of our call to minister to the Church and “proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes again.” At no point in that directive did Jesus tell us to proclaim His name until Lent was over. Instead, this was a call that we must answer everyday.  While some days we might do better than others, everyday we must take up our crosses and join our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we wash the feet of those around us and continue in the efforts that we began about 40 days ago when we made our Lenten promises.

Katelyn Seroka is a Senior from Avon Lake, OH majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and minoring in Catholic Studies and Special Education.