DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

PRAYER MOMENT 

Holy Thursday 2 April 2015

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand,’ he said, ‘what I have done to you?’” (John 13:1-15)

Reflection. This day used to be called Maundy Thursday and, in a way, I wish it still was. The word comes from the Latin ‘mandatum’, English ‘mandate’, meaning the day when the Lord gave us a command to ‘wash each other’s feet.’ Washing the disciples’ feet was a sign of everything God had done since the Passover in Egypt up to this moment when he was about to enter his Passion. It has often been noted that John places this act where the other writers place the institution of the Eucharist which itself is the New Covenant, the fulfilment of the Passover. The new Passover would release an energy that sent the disciples all over the world. It is an energy, a mandate, that is still alive and with us today.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to ‘wash each others’ feet’ by serving one another, especially the weakest and poorest and all our ‘enemies.’ Amen.

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