Holy Thursday of Easter Triduum

“Jesus knew that his hour had come… and he loved them to the end”.

Pause for a moment and visualize this remarkable scene. Jesus is gathered around the table with his twelve apostles to share a Passover meal. He knows that one of them is going to betray him. He knows that he is going to be condemned, tortured, and die on a cross. He knows that the future for many of his beloved disciples will be filled with persecution and demise – and yet he displays an unmitigated love until the very last breath of his earthly life.

This vivid imagery elicits a deep despondency in us. We question how people could be so mistaken, treacherous, and despicable. But this is our salvation narrative. The birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ are the manifestation of God’s unconditional love for all of us: a love that surrenders self to others, a love filled with passion, tenderness, and humility, a love that establishes what true love is capable of doing; the love that Jesus demonstrated, taught, and requires of his followers. Our Lord commands us: “I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

On this saddest of all sad days in the history of our Christian faith, we solemnly pray that the agony of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ galvanizes in us the desire to live the love that our Savior modeled and demanded of us to continue; a love imparted by God our Creator, through the life and death of our Redeemer for us to share.

Prayer

Lord Jesus – may we, who eat your body and drink your blood at every Eucharistic celebration, be transformed by your love to be the disciples that we are called to be, loving others as you have loved us. Amen.