"Triduum: Holy Thursday"
'Tis Holy Thursday (A.K.A. Maundy Thursday), act one of the Paschal Triduum, the Thursday of Holy Week: Holy Thursday-link & Wikipedia-link Holy Thursday, & Wikipedia-link Sacred Triduum; Holy Week-link & Wikipedia-link Holy Week.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Chrism Mass
The Book of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verses one, two, three(a), six(a), eight(b), & nine;
Psalm Eighty-nine (R/. two), verses twenty-one & twenty-two, twenty-five & twenty-seven;
The Book of Revelation, chapter one, verses five thru eight;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter four, verses sixteen thru twenty-one.
Commentary: Chrism Mass Readings.
The Book of Exodus, chapter twelve, verses one thru eight & eleven thru fourteen;
Psalm One Hundred Sixteen, verses twelve & thirteen, fifteen & sixteen(b/c), & seventeen & eighteen
(R/. the First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter ten, verse sixteen);
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter eleven, verses twenty-three thru twenty-six;
The Gospel according to John, chapter thirteen, verses one thru fifteen.
Commentary: Triduum Readings.
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus gathers with his chosen Twelve at the climax of his life and does something so strange that we still wonder at it two thousand years later: he takes off his outer garment, puts a towel around his waist, and begins to wash his disciples’ feet.Video reflection by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers (U.S.C.C.B.): Triduum Reflection.
The nineteenth-century philosopher Hegel said that all human society, to varying degrees, is characterized by the master-slave dynamic. Long before Hegel, the great St. Augustine noticed what he called the libido dominandi, the “lust to dominate,” as the mark of a dysfunctional society. Long before Augustine, the authors of the Old Testament were also interested in this problem, because the central story of the Scriptures is that of slavery and liberation from slavery—the Passover event.
But we see now in John’s Gospel how the distinctive mark of Jesus’ kingdom is precisely the overturning of the master-slave dynamic. Jesus bends down to do the work that was so lowly and frankly gross that only the lowest of the slaves were expected to do it, and he says, “As I have done for you, you should also do.” And what does he do later at the same supper? He gives himself away entirely in the Eucharist: “This is my body, which will be given for you.”
It is into this new dynamic that we are invited by Jesus: the washing of the feet, the giving away of body and blood.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Triduum Reflection.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"With the institution of the Eucharist, we enter into the very heart of humanity's drama. Will it be life directed toward death, or life open to eternity!"Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world & its pleasures."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (1786-1859, feast: 4 August)
"On the Cross, Jesus said, 'I thirst.' He was not asking for something to drink. When they offered Him vinegar He didn't drink it… Very often we offer Jesus a bitter drink too. This bitterness comes from the depths of hearts & wells up in our words. When we give this bitterness to each other, we give it to Jesus."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Let no one think he can be totally indifferent to God in this life & suddenly develop a capacity for Him at the moment of death."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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