For generations throughout the centuries Jewish families have gathered to commemorate the night when God freed them from slavery under pharaoh in Egypt and led them into freedom.
They were freed by the blood of the lamb they sacrificed and whose blood they sprinkled on their doorposts.
God ordered the Israelites to keep this memorial feast, and they kept it as we heard in the first reading, as a perpetual institution, eating unleavened bread and a roasted lamb.
On a night like tonight, Jesus gathered his disciples to eat this Passover meal, to join in this ancient ritual, which celebrates the freedom of Israel from the oppression of its enemies.
On a night like tonight, Jesus taught his disciples He was the true lamb that was bringing lasting freedom to Israel.
On a night like tonight, Jesus provided true food and true blood, becoming the new sacrificed Passover lamb. Before giving himself up on the cross, he willingly gave himself up at this meal by saying, “this is my body, this is my blood, given for you.” Jesus offered himself to the Father as the perfect sacrifice.
This meal is the moment that Saint Paul recalls in his Letter to the Corinthians. Christ has transformed the ancient rite of Passover, and the new Passover, the Eucharist, is what we Christians now keep as a perpetual institution.
On a night like tonight, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, giving them an example to follow. God has not only taken upon himself a human nature like ours, but he has come to wash our feet! To follow the Lamb of God, to be great in the Kingdom of God, we must serve one another, washing each other’s feet.
All the baptized are called to this ministry of service, yet tonight the liturgy highlights the unique role given to the apostles at the Last Supper, and passed on throughout the centuries in the Church: the role of the Priest.
On a night like tonight, Jesus instituted the Priesthood so that throughout future generations, the priest would be His presence; loving and serving His people in the darkness of the world. The priest would be the one to preside at the Eucharist in the name of Jesus himself, in the same way that the father of the family presided at the Jewish Passover meal.
Recalling that on this night Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the Priesthood, it is important to remember, that the priest is perfectly configured to Jesus Christ and is called to serve, to wash the feet of the people he serves. The priest surrenders his whole being to those he serves, not as a master, but as a friend. This is why tonight the priest washes the feet of the faithful: to imitate Christ, to remind himself he is configured to Christ, and to be a servant to others.
Tonight we gather in the same manner our Jewish ancestors did, and in the same way our Jewish brothers and sisters do so today, but we gather to celebrate the freedom we have received through Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God whose blood has set us free from sin and death.
Tonight we are blessed to be called to join in the supper of the lamb. Though unworthy to welcome him under the roof of our souls, He makes us worthy by calling us to Himself.
Tonight, like in the Exodus of Egypt, we partake of the liberating Lamb of God, but we, unlike our ancestors in Egypt who ate a dead lamb, we partake of Jesus Christ, the living Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the true lamb who dies no more, and who through the Eucharist, gives us his own flesh for heavenly food.
Tonight time is suspended as we enter into sacred time. As the Jewish people believe that the Passover meal makes present the salvation of their ancestors from Egypt, so too for us, the Eucharist makes present the salvation won for us by Christ. What we do here tonight, and every time the Mass is celebrated, transcends time, making Christ truly present body and blood, here among us. By instituting this ritual for us, we continue to benefit from the salvation Jesus has won for us. To be here is to be at the foot of the cross and at the entrance of the tomb. To be here is to stand in the presence of the Living God.
What an ancient mystery. What a humbling privilege.
Come let us keep watch with Him. Come let us adore.
Me celebrating the Eucharist at the Garden of Gethsemane
All pictures are mine, all rights reserved. Pictures of the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, 2015.
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