Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper
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| “Washing of the Feet” by Giovane Palma, 1591-92 |
Catechism
Links
CCC 1337-1344:
the institution of the Eucharist
CCC 1359-1361:
Eucharist as thanksgiving
CCC 610,
1362-1372, 1382, 1436: Eucharist as sacrifice
CCC 1373-1381:
the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist
CCC 1384-1401,
2837: Holy Communion
CCC 1402-1405:
the Eucharist as the pledge of glory
CCC 611,
1366: institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper
(Mass of the Lord’s Supper)[1][2]
Reading 1: Exodus
12:1-8, 11-14
The LORD said to Moses and
Aaron in the land
of Egypt
"This month shall stand
at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first
month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel
On the tenth of this month
every one of your families
must procure for itself a lamb,
one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for
a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest
household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number
of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old
male and without blemish.
You may take it from either
the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of this month,
and then, with the whole
assembly of Israel
it shall be slaughtered
during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its
blood
and apply it to the two
doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they
partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall
eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs.
"This is how you are to
eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals
on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who
are in flight.
It is the Passover of the
LORD.
For on this same night I will
go through Egypt
striking down every firstborn
of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all
the gods of Egypt
But the blood will mark the
houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass
over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt
no destructive blow will come
upon you.
"This day shall be a
memorial feast for you,
which all your generations
shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD,
as a perpetual institution."
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Commentary on Ex 12:1-8, 11-14
This passage from
Exodus established the Feast of Passover for Jewish people. It is the feast Jesus was celebrating in the
upper room. We are told of the tenth and
final plague to strike Egypt
CCC: Ex 12:3-14 608
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
R. (cf. 1 Cor 10:16) Our blessing-cup is a communion
with the Blood of Christ.
How shall I make a return to
the LORD
for all the good he has done
for me?
The cup of salvation I will
take up,
and I will call upon the name
of the LORD.
R. Our blessing-cup is a
communion with the Blood of Christ.
Precious in the eyes of the
LORD
is the death of his faithful
ones.
I am your servant, the son of
your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. Our blessing-cup is a
communion with the Blood of Christ.
To you will I offer sacrifice
of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name
of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will
pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. Our blessing-cup is a
communion with the Blood of Christ.
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Commentary on Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
This psalm of thanksgiving gives us the image of the “Cup of Blessing”
used in the Passover celebration. It is
this cup that the Lord first blessed and used as our communion cup.
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Reading II: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what
I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the
night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had
given thanks,
broke it and said, "This
is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of
me."
In the same way also the cup,
after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new
covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the
Lord until he comes.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 11:23-26
CCC: 1 Cor 11:23-26 1339;
1 Cor 11:23 610,
1366; 1 Cor 11:24-25 1356;
1 Cor 11:24 1328,
1329; 1 Cor 11:25 611,
613; 1 Cor 11:26 671,
1076, 1130, 1344, 1393, 2772, 2776
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Gospel: John
13:1-15
Before the feast of Passover,
Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to
the Father.
He loved his own in the world
and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced
Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father
had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God
and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took
off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it
around his waist.
Then he poured water into a
basin
and began to wash the
disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel
around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who
said to him,
"Master, are you going
to wash my feet?"
Jesus answered and said to
him,
"What I am doing, you do
not understand now,
but you will understand
later."
Peter said to him, "You
will never wash my feet."
Jesus answered him,
"Unless I wash you, you
will have no inheritance with me."
Simon Peter said to him,
"Master, then not only
my feet, but my hands and head as well."
Jesus said to him,
"Whoever has bathed has
no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not
all."
For he knew who would betray
him;
for this reason, he said,
"Not all of you are clean."
So when he had washed their
feet
and put his garments back on
and reclined at table again,
he said to them, "Do you
realize what I have done for you?
You call me 'teacher' and
'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and
teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one
another's feet.
I have given you a model to
follow,
so that as I have done for
you, you should also do."
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Commentary on Jn 13:1-15
We find in St. John’s
While other parts
of sacred scripture enjoin the faithful to be humble in service to on another,
this action by Jesus most graphically illustrates the ideal. St. Peter,
do doubt, expresses the discomfort and sense of embarrassment felt by his
brother disciples as he objects to the Lord so debasing himself before them –
his students. The Lord explains has
lesion verbally in response to St. Peter’s objections and in doing so sets the
tone for all future discipleship “I have given you a model
to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."
CCC: Jn 13:1-17 1337;
Jn 13:1 557,
609, 616, 622, 730, 1085, 1380, 1524, 1823, 2843; Jn 13:3 423;
Jn 13:12-16 1694;
Jn 13:12-15 1269;
Jn 13:13 447;
Jn 13:15 520
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Reflection:
“Do you
realize what I have done for you?”
These words hang in the air as the disciples look on in embarrassed
silence. Washing the feet of guests was,
in the time of Jesus, the duty of a house slave. It was not, under any circumstance the
disciples would have encountered, the job of their rabbi, their teacher, the
one they believed was the Messiah! It is
a sign of their total commitment to Jesus that only Peter objected.
“Do you
realize what I have done for you?” When Jesus wrapped that towel around himself
and got down on his knees, he stooped to serve not just those seated at the
table, he stooped to serve everyone ever born of woman. His decent to his knees, bowel and towel in
hand, was a decent from the highest heaven to the lowliest station on
earth. Everyone since has been offered
this humble service.
“Do you
realize what I have done for you?” It
was Mary who had but recently washed his feet with her tears and perfumed them
with oil, drying them with her hair. She
did this service to Jesus as if preparing him for burial. In Jesus turn he washes our feet that they
might be clean entering the heavenly kingdom so that we might enjoy eternal
life with him.
“Do you
realize what I have done for you?” Even the one with thirty pieces of silver in
his belt had his feet washed clean by the one who was pure as the driven
snow. In this washing Jesus offers to
wash us all clean of sin, taking upon himself all that burdens us, all that
makes us unclean. On this Feast of the
Lord’s Supper, upon which we celebrate the gift of the Lord’s Body and Blood,
we realize that he continues to wash us, freeing us from the fetters of sin and
death and opening the gates of heaven for us.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used is “Washing of the Feet” by Giovane Palma, 1591-92
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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