Christian Reflection and Prayer

Readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14;
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15

Scripture:

"But if I washed your feet then you
must wash each other's feet." (John 13:14)

Reflection:

People often say "Seeing is believing."
But on Holy Thursday, Christ turns it all
around. On Holy Thursday, believing is
seeing. Today the Lord establishes His
greatest gift to His disciples, the Eucharist,
the gift that has carried the Lord's Presence
to His followers throughout the centuries.
Here in the Eucharist we humble human
believers see and taste God.

If you go to the Holy Land and visit the room
of the Last Supper, you will probably be
surprised at how plain it is. No great church
surrounds it, and nothing in the room would
give a hint of the majestic event that occurred
there. It is a simple upper room. This simplicity
reflects our gospel reading that calls us to be
servants of one another. Jesus' act of washing
the disciples' feet was a sacred rite that prepared
and purified them for the bread of life. If they did
not serve one another as Jesus was serving
them, then they could not receive the bread of life.

The poor of Jesus' day did not wear sandals,
so their feet needed to be washed before entering
a house. The poor of our day do not have sandals,
food, a home, or political power. Once we have
seen Christ in the Eucharist, we also see the
poor who need us to wash their feet, call them
into our home, lead them to the bread of life.

Prayer:

Dear God.

On this day when you were turned over to face
death on the cross, let us remember that only
you are God and only you can say what is bad
or good. Help us to remember the evil done this
night lead to the greatest good that mankind
could ever have wished. That it is only our
ignorance which makes us condemn those who
killed you instead of praising them as the heroes
who made Easter possible. Only you know how
you perceive them, and us. So help us to know
that we are here to love you and one and other.
Not condemn, just love. The love that Jesus
showed us every day of his life and death.
Amen.

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9;
Matthew 26:14-25

Scripture:

"I looked for sympathy, but there
was none; for comforters, and I
found none." (Psalms 69:21)

Reflection:

Many great spiritual writers have
written about "the dark night of the
soul." This is a time when we experience
a sense of complete abandonment and
aloneness. We are slowly being surrounded
by the darkness with no one there to help us
or even walk with us. One religious sister
told me of her experience with the dark night.
She was in chapel praying and was overcome
with a sense of God's complete absence.
There was nothing there to pray to. She was
so scared she had to run from the chapel!

Of all the days in Jesus' life, today is one of the
darkest. The readings show us a Jesus Who is
abandoned and betrayed. He is facing His most
difficult moment, His death, and the people He
most relied on are deserting Him. Isaiah
prophesies that the Messiah will face His pain
and tortures alone. The responsorial psalm echoes
his soft cry for help: "Lord in Your great love,
answer Me!"

We have all faced dark nights of the soul when
everything seems lost and we are forsaken. In
this darkness, we stand with Jesus and with Isaiah.
We rely on our belief that, as it did in the first
moments of creation, the voice of God will create
a dawn in the darkness.

Prayer:

Prayer for Wednesday of Holy Week

Father, in your plan of salvation your Son
Jesus Christ accepted the cross and freed us from
the power of the enemy. May we come to share
the glory of his resurrection, for he lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Readings: Isaiah 49:1-6;
John 13:21-33; 36-38

Scripture:

"I tell you solemnly; one of
you will betray me!" (John 13:21)

Reflection:

Throughout Jesus' ministry He always
spoke of love without limits, forgiveness
instead of revenge, and service over
domination. In our gospel, Jesus
struggles with His own commitment to
live those words that He has spoken so
often and so fervently. We see that Jesus
is "deeply troubled," His depression arising
from the betrayal of Judas and the lying of
Peter. Now Jesus must forgive the betrayal
and deceit that has torn and ripped apart
the fabric of love between Him and His
friends. Jesus realizes that He must stand
alone to face his sufferings and death. It
will not be His disciples or His friends that
see Him through, but only His trust in God.
Jesus believes God will not fail Him.

The words of Isaiah give Jesus hope that
there is an anchor in this sea of deceit:
"The Lord called me from birth, from my
mother's womb he gave me my name.
God is now my strength." (Isaiah 49:1, 5).

We also are not free from the disciples' flaws.
How often have we been like Judas, rejecting
the call to love and entering the darkness,
or like Peter, lying to protect our own skins?
We ask forgiveness and renew our fidelity to
the Lord Who walks alone.

Prayer:

Father, may we receive your forgiveness and
mercy as we celebrate the passion and death
of the Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.