Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday)

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 63:1-9 Community Rank
Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Resp Ps 89; Rev 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21
Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Resp Ps 116; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

Love one another as I have loved you.

IF I, THEREFORE, THE MASTER AND TEACHER, HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET, YOU OUGHT TO WASH ONE ANOTHER'S FEET.

These days of Holy Week present challenges for each one of us. Life goes on and we face daily crosses in the form of disagreements, tension, anxiety, aches, pains, tiredness, and grief. These 'daily pinpricks' make Jesus' words more challenging. Even so, Jesus says: "I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." We walk together. 

WHERE TRUE CHARITY IS DWELLING, GOD IS PRESENT THERE.

By the love of Christ we have been brought together;

let us find in him our gladness and our pleasure;

may we love him and revere him, God the living,

and in love respect each other with sincere hearts.

WHERE TRUE CHARITY IS DWELLING, GOD IS PRESENT THERE.

So when we as one are gathered all together,

let us strive to keep our minds free of division;

may there be an end to malice, strife and quarrels,

and let Christ our God be dwelling here among us.

WHERE TRUE CHARITY IS DWELLING, GOD IS PRESENT THERE.

May your face thus be our vision, bright in glory,

Christ our God, with all the blessed Saints in heaven:

such delight is pure and faultless, joy unbounded,

which endures through countless ages world without end. Amen.

(Magnificat, April 18, 2019)

In the Eucharist you really meet Jesus, share His life, feel His love; there you experience that His death and resurrection are for you.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, April 18, 2019)

Christ died because He loves each one of us: young and old, saints and sinners, people of His time and people of our time.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, April 17, 2019)

NB. From the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year: 'The forty days of Lent run from Ash Wednesday up to but excluding the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive … The Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord begins with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, has its center in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Sunday of the Resurrection.'