Word Wide Open: Holy Thursday - Mass of the Lord's Supper (A) - 4/6/23

First Reading (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14)

A reading from the Book of Exodus.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

“This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;

you shall reckon it the first month of the year.

Tell the whole community of Israel:

On the tenth of this month every one of your families

must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.

If a family is too small for a whole lamb,

it shall join the nearest household in procuring one

and shall share in the lamb

in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.

The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.

You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.

You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,

and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present,

it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.

They shall take some of its blood

and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel

of every house in which they partake of the lamb.

That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh

with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

“This is how you are to eat it:

with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,

you shall eat like those who are in flight.

It is the Passover of the LORD.

For on this same night I will go through Egypt,

striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast,

and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!

But the blood will mark the houses where you are.

Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;

thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,

no destructive blow will come upon you.

“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,

which all your generations shall celebrate

with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How does Jesus fulfill/change passover? Why did they have to prepare to leave this meal every time they celebrated it?

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 

Brothers and sisters:

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,

that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,

took bread, and, after he had given thanks,

broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,

you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions:  Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How does the Mass always connect to the passion?

Gospel (John 13:1-15)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come

to pass from this world to the Father.

He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.

The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.

So, during supper,

fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power

and that he had come from God and was returning to God,

he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.

He took a towel and tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a basin

and began to wash the disciples’ feet

and dry them with the towel around his waist.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,

“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus answered and said to him,

“What I am doing, you do not understand now,

but you will understand later.”

Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered him,

“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

Simon Peter said to him,

“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”

Jesus said to him,

“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,

            for he is clean all over;

so you are clean, but not all.”

For he knew who would betray him;

for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

So when he had washed their feet

and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,

he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am.

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,

you ought to wash one another’s feet.

I have given you a model to follow,

so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? Why did Jesus wash the apostles' feet? What does it mean to be a servant leader? How can we model Jesus washing feet in our own lives?