EVENING MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

 

1st Reading           Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14

Psalm                     116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18 (R. cf. 1 Cor. 10: 16)

R:// "The cup of blessing is a participation in the blood of Christ" 

2nd Reading        1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

Gospel                   John 13:1-15

THE WORK AND THE WORKER ARE INSTITUTED

Friends, today, we commence the Sacred Paschal Triduum with the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. In this Mass, we recall the gift of the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood. Therefore, we celebrate the work and worker. Let us take a few noteworthy details from the first reading and the Gospel narrative.

Let us begin with the first reading from Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14. This is a passage that is read on every Holy Thursday at the Mass of the Lord's Supper. The narrative is found within the surgence of the plagues. The flow of the occurrence of the plagues is intercepted after the 9th plague by the institution of the Passover, the first reading of today. Hence, the passage of the first reading comes between the initiation and occurrence of the event of the 10th plague. What it should mean to us is that the Passover should be understood in the light of the 10th plague, the plague of the death of first borns (Exodus 12:29-39).

The Passover is intended to be a deliverance from death. The immediate death talked about is the death of the first borns which is the 10th plague. This 10th plague, like all other plagues, was occasioned by the hardened heart of Pharoah. This is disobedience to God's dictates. Further carried, the death that could be envisaged in a different sense would be the death brought into the human race by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. The implication is that every act of disobedience attracts death. However, such death can be defeated by the very act that brought it. The antidote lies in the poison itself. 

The antidote, I suggest, lies in the mention of the category of people who are to celebrate the Passover. We could easily say it is FAMILY. Indeed, disobedience to a father of a family is "death," a kind that rifts familial relationship. However, that begs the question, "What kind of family?". The text of Exodus (12:3) mentions two principal words that we should look at in that regard. The first is the mention of CONGREGATION. Some translations may have ASSEMBLY. The Hebrew word translated as such is 'edah. While it can be translated into various words, one of such strikes a lot. It can be translated as HERD, and this makes us think about a flock. When we think about a flock, we should also implicitly or explicitly know the word SHEPHERD. An animal from a flock or the herd, separated from the Shepherd, is doomed to be destroyed by harsh weather and ravenous wolves. That is the situation of Israel. While under oppression in Egypt, death looms. They are separated from God, though not intentionally. The mention of flock and shephed is one of relationship. Family is a relationship. This is the first character of the people who celebrate Passover. 

The second feature lies in the mention of "Household" or "House." The word is "bayit." The nuance of the word "bayit" concerns also the Temple. Interestingly, it is in the Temple that sacrifices are done. The family, the House, becomes the first communal temple. Family becomes the centre of building the faith. The kind of family we should speak about is a liturgical or worshipping one. Seen in the light of the Eucharist which the Passover prefigures, the Eucharist is an activity centred in the faith community, a community that ought itself to be familial. An antidote to death is family relationships and solidarity. 

What are they sacrificing? They are obviously killing lambs, eating the flesh, and smearing the blood on the two door posts and the lintel of the houses (vv. 6 & 7). The purpose of the blood is to serve as the saving element of what the family kills. It is smeared on things of a house— doorposts and lintel. In fact, the doorposts and lintel protect the entrance to the house. The lintel distributes weight evenly so that the door is well fixed and the doorpost, vertical on each side of the door, holds the door firm. It is the securing of the entrance to that house that death is taken out. Whatever comes into a household has the tendency to defeat the unity of the members therein. It is not enough being a worshipping community. What is also important is to guard the entrance into that faith community. Otherwise, anything corruptible can destroy the foundations of the faith. We shall identify that the Lamb sacrificed prefigures Jesus, the Lamb of God. 

How are they eating it? They are to gird their loins with sandals on their feet, staff in the hand, and they shall eat it in haste (13:11). These are images of one who is about to embark on a journey. Such a person can decide to take the food along and eat it when necessary, thus when hungry. However, this is the person eating it before he commences the journey. What sustains the one journeying is the food. In the light of the Eucharist, we get to understand that there is an intricate relationship between this life and life hereafter. We are journeying. The food for the journey is the Eucharist. It is not received when necessary as if it is not needed at some points. It is actually the food for every part of the journey. 

That is how deep the narrative is. We get to know that there is no mention of a priest who does the sacrifice. Heads of families, the fathers, are the ones who act as liturgical heads. They kill the animals. Eventually, priests were introduced into the sacred service of the household duty (the Temple service). 

The Gospel passage (Jn. 13:1-15) gives us the workers of the work, as well as their nature. We see that the passage talks about the Passover. While the synoptic Gospels identify Thursday as when the Last Supper took place, the Gospel according to John simply says "before the feast of the Passover". Subsequent reading will inform us that it is a day before Passover. At any rate, John would have been telling us that before the work was done again, we needed workers to work. These workers must come with a distinctive mark, one that contradicts the popular opinion and view of the time. 

Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. What was the popular view? A Jewish household is made up of the father, who is the master, the wife (mistress), the children, and the servants. After making a journey and upon the reception of a visitor who makes a long journey, it is the duty of the servant of the house to come quickly to the feet of the master or the visitor to wash his feet. The nature of the land contributes to such activity. The land is dusty, and the use of leather sandals could make the feet smelly. In the final analysis, the servant's duty is to wash feet. 

Jesus cannot, in the popular sense, be regarded as the servant. He is their teacher, the Rabbi. He is the master. He should have his feet washed first. Against, the popular view, the master takes up the washing activity. That evening is the institution of the Holy Ministerial Priesthood. The word that diligently describes the Priest is the "Minister" of God. While it could be a person who handles a department of God's shepherding and governance of his people, it has a beautiful meaning. The word is "minus-tere". A "minus" is a reduction. Rightly so, the nature of the worker of the work is to "reduce" himself, not "to devalue himself as to lose his dignity". He ought to look like the Lamb itself that he sacrifices, for a lamb is nothing but a young sheep, a little sheep. 

The command is to all, both those who enjoy the common Priesthood and the ministerial Priesthood. It is this: "You also ought to wash one another's feet" (Jn. 13: 15). There are feet with dirts; there are tired feet; and there are smelly feet. Each has its burden. Help to allay the burdens. The ministerial priests themselves are not excluded. 

Have a fruitful Triduum.

Pax et Bonum