Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday)

Maundy Thursday

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 56 The Abbot's Table
Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Resp Ps 89; Rev 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21

I will call upon the name of the Lord.

HEART OF JESUS, IN WHOM DWELLS THE FULLNESS OF DIVINTY,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

We enter the Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord; the most sacred days in the life of any Christian. The Paschal Triduum "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" (Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year). We are united these days, most of us in our homes, all around the world, in prayer.

We are all being put to the test in the particular individual and communal settings in which we find ourselves. We walk with the Lord in His agony and pain. This is what we are about, put this way by Romano Guardini, in The Lord (pp. 426-27):

Every Christian one day reaches the point where he too must be ready to accompany the Master into destruction and oblivion: into that which the world considers folly, that for which his own understanding is incomprehensible, for his own feeling intolerable. Whatever it is to be: suffering, dishonor, the loss of loved ones or the shattering of a lifetime oeuvre, this is the decisive test of his Christianity. Will he shrink back before the ultimate depths, or will he be able to go all the way and thus win his share of the life of Christ? What is it we fear in Christianity if not precisely this demand? … to be a Christian means to participate in the life of Christ-all of it; only the whole brings peace. The Lord once said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, or be afraid" (Jn 14:27). Peace comes only from living this through to the end. One way or another we must brush the depths Christ divinely plummeted, taste the dregs he drained to the last drop: "It is consummated" (Jn 19:30). From this unreserved realization of the Father's will comes the illimitable peace of Christ, also for us.

I HAVE GIVEN YOU A MODEL TO FOLLOW, SO THAT AS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU, YOU SHOULD ALSO DO.
(Jn 13:15)

A few words from the Holy Father, in a recorded interview with Austin Ivereigh, "on life during lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic":

I'm living this as a time of great uncertainty. It's a time for inventing, for creativity ... the creativity of the Christian needs to show forth in opening up new horizons, opening windows, opening transcendence toward God and toward people, and creating new ways of being at home. It's not easy to be confined to your house.

Today's photo: This apple tree blossom beauty was taken yesterday in our garden. What makes it extra special is that I discovered it while mowing and heading straight for the branch. It's no wonder I came to an abrupt halt.

© Gertrude Feick 2020