Holy Thursday

April 2, 2026

Service to others is a hallmark of a disciple of Jesus.

Companions for the Journey as we enter the Triduum:

1. We must be careful these days not to caricature the Jewish faith. The Gospels portray its piety and leaders in a very unsympathetic light. Don’t become an unconscious anti-Semite. Such bashing of the Jews can reveal an insecure faith, seeking assurance in caricaturing the faith of others. Jewish people suffered their worst pogroms during Holy Week at the hands of Christians. So, we need to be careful of subtle forms of anti-Semitism.

2. We must be careful to respect the integrity of each Gospel. Don’t harmonize or fill in to make a composite picture. Stay within the text and treat it distinctively, learn how each writer saw and witnessed the Christ event. For example, notice that no one gospel has all seven phrases of the “Last Words.” “Seven Last Words of Jesus” in the four gospel accounts of The Passion:

Mark: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Matthew: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Luke: Father forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.
Today you shall be with me in Paradise.
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
John: Woman, here is your son. Here is your mother.
I thirst.
It is finished.

3. Remember that the principle actor is God. There are some key figures in the stories for meditation (Peter, Pilate, etc.), but in the Gospels this week Jesus absorbs our attention. Put aside all else, even the “moral lessons.” We see nothing but Jesus, and him crucified. What is God doing and saying to us this week?

4. The Triduum is a unity: this contradicts the conventional wisdom that sees each day as a separate unit. Note that in each day of the Triduum there is explicit reference to the whole paschal liturgy. Each particular day commemorates the whole of the mystery, while at the same time emphasizing one aspect of the events. So we experience Good Friday in its defeat and pain in the light of the hope of the resurrection; we experience Easter in its glory, reminded of the seeming hopelessness of Good Friday. The renewed emphasis isn’t on “holy week” but on the consciousness of the passion and resurrection as intimately bound to our own lives as church.

5. I want to be careful how I think about suffering and death during these days. I wonder how we can think of them as positive? In the Scriptures of the Jewish people, suffering and death are to be avoided and, where possible, alleviated. The hope we have as Christians is that God will do away with both at the end. It seems to be always the poor who suffer the most, who always are the victims. So, during these days we might resolve to become more fully involved with God’s plan to alleviate suffering by alleviating the suffering of the poor through deeper involvement in social programs. Good Friday, for example, should not be a day that keeps a silence of inattention to the suffering of others. If we keep a silence this day, it may be to ponder the suffering of those around us and to resolve to do something about it. If we fast, or partially fast this day, it might be to do so in solidarity with those who have too little to eat, using whatever we did not spend a give it away to someone in need, or to an organization that helps feed the poor.

GOSPEL FOR HOLY THURSDAY: 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.”

Reflection Questions:
Normally, in Jesus’ time, a slave would be ordered to wash the feet of guests. What does it tell me that Jesus choose to perform this humiliating act?

Jesus’ claim to power confused the disciples, because he used his power to perform an act of service.
How do I view power?
Is it always a bad thing?
What have I done for others with whatever powers I possess?

How does it feel to be the recipient of another’s efforts, kindness, largesse?
Does it seem demeaning?
What mindset can I adopt in order to summon up genuine, gracious acceptance

Peter was reluctant to submit to having Jesus see how dirty his feet were. It was demeaning.
What dirty little secrets have I withheld from others?
What dirty little secrets do I think I have hidden from Jesus?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
Imagine that you are one of the twelve settling in for a Passover meal with Jesus. Does this night seem special to you? Where is it being held? Who prepares and serves the meal? What are you eating/drinking? Are there any women present? What of the old stories of the first Passover stand out for you? How do you and your companions view Jesus this evening? Does he seem any different? What do you make of the exchange with Judas, and then with Peter? Do either of them make you uncomfortable? Is there anything in the conversation that puzzles you? What is the message that you take away from the evenings activities, or are you puzzled by the curious events? Do modern readers, who know the outcome of that fateful evening, view the events differently? What message in contained in this story for modern readers? What message is there in that story for me?

Music Meditations:
“Servant Song” by Servantofthelion
“Whatsoever You Do” by Robert Kolchis
“The Call” by John Bell

A HOLY THURSDAY MEDITATION ADAPTED FROM BEHOLD YOUR LIFE: A PILGRIMAGE THROUGH YOUR MEMORIES BY SR. MARINA WIEDERKEHR. O.S.B.

As I have done, so you must do!

On this memorial of Holy Thursday contemplate how your life has been a eucharist: a song of thanksgiving. Two important rituals took pllace during the meal that Jesus shared with ihs disciples the night before he died. The first ritual was that of sharing a meal together during which bread was blessed, broken and passed on to one another to be eaten. The cup of wine beame the cup of blessing because it, too, was shared. The second ritual was the loving action of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Beccause this meal was the last meal Jesus shared with his friends before he died, it is often referred to as the Last Supper. He knew that Christians throughout the ages would celebrate it again and again. He knew that the eucharist would be all-embracing—that his presence would be real and vibrant, far beyond the wafer we receive on Sunday mornings. Jesus knew that his pressence would extend to the gathered assebly, his visible body on earth: the body of Christ. It has even been said that we should think seriously about receving communion if we cannot receive every person gathered with us—and beyond. Jesus knew that every time we gather round the table in love, he would be the silent, unseen guest, and eucharist would take place. He know that the eucharist is all-embracing, It cannot exclude. Perhps ths is why Jesus didn’t exclude Judas at the Last Supper. Jesus also knew that we would exclude some people from the eucharist, calling them unbelievers, because not everyone believes in the same way. Consider these things today:

• What does it mean to be a believer?

• How has your believing transformed your life?

• How well have you fed others?

• How well have you been eucharist?

Ponder these questions in the silence of your hearts. I refresh my memory today, I call back into my mind and heart eucharistic moments throughout my life. Eucharist means thanksgiving. It often happens at a table, but not always. There is another table called daily life, there are many eucharistic moments right in the midst of everyday life.I envision myself gathered around that table with Jesus and his friends the night before he dies. We are celebrating that great moment of thanksgiving for having been delivered out of slavery. We break the bread. We share the cup. We chant hymns. Jesus say that this is his body and we should do this often in memory of him. I recognize this moment as eucharist and I am full of joy that I can be present. But something else happened at the table that night. I sometimes forget the other eucharistic moment, Jesus got up from the table and washed my feet. He washed everyone’s feet, even Judas’. It has taken me a long time, but I’m finally beginning to read between the lines of that foot-washing moment. Jesus wasns’t just trying to teach me by example that I should wash the feet of others. Oh, it was more than that. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he washed my feet, His heart was overflowing with sorrow, love,and gratitude as he ministered to us. He had to wash our feet because he loved us. He was giving us eucharist again. It was as powerful as the moment he broke the bread and said; “This is y body!”. As he tenderly held my feet he seemed to be saying again; “This is my body!” Now that I’ve grown older, I look back at this moment and understand that he was calling us all to be servants—not doormats, but servants! The difference between being a doormat and a servant is the difference between living in slavery or freedom. To be a servant means to let Jesus sing his song to us, in us, and through us. Only free people can be servants. Only free people can be eucharist for one another. I am beginning to see how I sometimes allow my distracted and addictive life to smother the song of thanksgiving in me, I pause now and call to mind moments whenI have forgotten to be eucharist—times when I have silenced the song within. Yes. There are days when my song has been unsung and the people around me have starved for lack of eucharist. I forgive myself as with great compassion I touch those memories. On this holy day, I also call up all the times when I have not forgotten. I can remember days when I have allowed Jesus to make music with my life—to sing songs through me. I remember times when I have handed out bread and washed feet with abandon. There have been seasons when I have celebated the eucharist at the table of daily life as well as at the altar. I heart the echo of Jesus’ words, “This is my body!”, and did not turn away. Jesus, your words are clear. Your two rituals from the Last Supper live on in my life. Deep inside of me the call to be eucharist throbs unceasingly. I hear your voice, echoing through the ages, “This is my body!”. “Yes”, I say, as I reach for the bread at the altar. “Yes”, I say as I reach for the hand of my brother and sister. Your second ritual, too, aches to be fulfilled in me.”As I have done, do must you do”. Help me never to block your song of love in me. Lead me to those who long for their feet to be washed. And so today, my dearest Lord who washes feet, I sit down at the table with new confidence, It is never too late to be eucharist. Almost anything can happen when you share a meal. Anything can happen at the table of daily life. Amen.

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116; 1Cor. 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-15

When I was a boy I used to watch professional wrestling matches on a black and white television with my grandfather. The other night I came across a wrestling match as I was flipping through the channels, and I paused and recalled those boyhood memories. I was struck by how much professional wrestling has changed since I was a boy. Now it’s in full color and with great spectacle. When the wrestlers for a match are announced they come down a long ramp, illuminated by spotlights, flashing strobe lights and fireworks. There’s dramatic music too, lots of trumpets and drums. Quite a change from what I remembered. But in other ways the past and present bouts are similar. You can still tell from the wrestlers’ appearances and mannerisms who the heroes and villains are. The crowds know immediately who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are – and these days the wrestlers are just as likely to be women. They cheer and boo for their favorites. When the match starts, at first the hero is beaten up, or so it seems – it still looks phony. Then, as if by divine intervention, he or she gets up from the mat, gathers strength and proceeds to wallop the villain. From out of nowhere, it seems, the weakened hero has been given a gift of new life and power to overwhelm the villain. Of course, it is all drama and pretense. (I was told once there is a drama school in Manhattan for wrestlers to perfect their acting technique.) When the victim hero got up to stride forward to finish off the rival, my grandfather and I would say, “Oh, oh, here it comes!” The wrestling match comes to mind because of today’s gospel. Throughout John’s gospel Jesus has been doing battle against evil and death. It has been a wrestling match; not the fake television kind, but a life and death struggle against very real and powerful opponents. He has confronted sin and death in the surrounding world and also in the resistance of the religious leaders to his message. Death’s powers have come close to him. For example, two weeks ago many of us heard the Lazarus story. We watched Jesus weep at his friend’s tomb as he confronted death’s power to inflict pain and loss among those he loved – and to himself as well. In today’s gospel John says that Jesus, “was fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power....” Then we are told that Jesus “rose from supper.” I remember those television matches and I wonder, is this going to be one of those, “Oh, oh, here it comes” moments? Will Jesus use the power he has been given to overcome his enemies? Will he name and condemn his betrayer? Will he smite the Roman army? Dash over to the Temple and cast out his religious opponents and banish the unfaithful? Will he break his previous pattern of patiently instructing his disciples, dismiss them and go get a better and brighter crop of followers? What will Jesus do when he rises from table with all that power available to him. Well, he certainly surprised his disciples. And he continues to surprise us this day. Jesus rises and washes his disciples’ feet. That’s not how they, or we, would use all the power, were it available to us. How do we know? Because it isn’t the way power is usually used in our world: nations dominate nations; one ethnic group purges its rival; one religion proclaims its dominance over others; some parents, by word and example, teach their children to succeed at any cost; some church officials cut off dialogue over disputed issues; news commentators shout down one another on talk shows; businesses take over weaker rivals, etc. It does seem that when some nations, organizations, religions and individuals come to power, other groups must shudder and say, “Oh, oh, here it comes!” – and suffer the consequences. Having power is not necessarily a bad thing and Jesus’ life and today’s gospel are examples of ways to use power to the benefit and for the good of others. His use of power is also an example to us. I have friends who belong to a mediation group. They use the term “practice” to refer to their daily meditative exercise. So, they schedule into their day a half hour meditation each morning and evening. It’s their “practice” and they have been doing it regularly for some years. They try to support this “practice” by other disciplines. They play meditative music in their home; occasionally join group meditative sittings; read books about meditation, etc. In other words, they feed their basic practice with an appropriate life style. But while they may change routines and what they do for the rest of the day, they stay faithful to their meditation schedule. It is their basic “practice.” Notice the word they use – “practice.” It takes the perfectionist pressure off what they do, they don’t have to do it perfectly. They can be patient and tolerant when they let things slip or they don’t feel a meditation went as they had hoped. They can say, “I am no expert, I am just a beginner. I just practice, maybe I’ll get it right someday. Someday it will be easier and better---right now I practice.” There are a lot of levels of application in today’s foot washing story. We are at Jesus’ last supper with his disciples and so we think of the Eucharist. The other three gospels already have the account of the institution of the Eucharist, so John doesn’t have to repeat that. Instead, he narrates the washing of the feet and in doing that, links it to the Eucharist. From now on, disciples cannot think of the Eucharist without Jesus’ example and instruction to us, his disciples, about the washing of feet. After he washes their feet Jesus tells his disciples, “...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.” Before we get too work-oriented and think about what we must do, let’s reflect on what the washing means for us. First of all, it reminds us that we are recipients. In washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus has acted as the lowly servant, given his life in service for others. As a church, we are who we are because of Jesus’ offering of himself. The washing reminds us that our baptism unites us to Jesus and his death. He has gained life for us, something we couldn’t do on our own. Our washing, our baptism, is what puts us in touch with that life, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Now, with that new life, we hear Jesus’ instruction, “As I have done for you, you should also do.” So, we too are called to lay down our lives in service to others – and we set about practicing the life we have received. We learn our “practice” from him. And of course, as with any other “practice,” we probably won’t get it perfect, but we will keep at it. Eucharist is our most basic “practice” for Jesus’ disciples; it is the center of our spirituality and is what we regularly return to. It is not only that we attend Eucharist, but, because of the foot washing, we try to put it into practice by serving the needs of others. We try to act towards the world as Jesus acted towards us, by being his faithful witness and serving others, even to the point of giving our lives. Have we gotten it perfect yet? No. That’s why we return to Eucharist and that’s why we keep practicing in our daily lives what we have learned at Eucharist.

Quotable

Prayer for All Migrants to Saint Joseph, persecuted and courageous migrant

Saint Joseph
You who have experienced the suffering
of those who must flee
You who were forced to flee
to save the lives of those dearest to you
Protect all those who flee because of
war, hatred, hunger
Support them in their difficulties
strengthen them in hope
and let them find welcome and solidarity
Guide their steps and open the hearts
of those who can help them. Amen
(Pope Francis, Catechesis on Saint Joseph, December 29, 2021, quoted in the Houston Catholic Worker Newsletter Jan-March 2022)

Music Meditations for Holy Thursday
(All are on YouTube)

“Ubi Caritas” by Taize
“I Have Loved You” Michael Joncas

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

(Pinched from somewhere; source unknown)
Jesus is saying this: “you want to know what we’re doing at this last supper? By my taking bread and wine, this cup, and sharing it among you, by my washing of the feet, I want you to understand what the eucharist would mean. The eucharist would be forever a living symbol that I am in your midst urging you to do that service, When I take this bread and say, ’Look, this is my body, and it’s broken for you. This is the cup of my blood shed for you.’ And so the Christian community should do that as well.” So this is the holiest night of the year, as it were, the time when Christians harken back to almost 2000 years ago; into a room which was less than half the size of most churches, with apostles gathered like ourselves, and the twelve represented by these participants tonight. And we have met in order to remember what eucharist means. Jesus, in our midst, urges us “Take your body and give it for others, and break it for others, in love. Take the cup of your blood and pour it and empty it, and hold it out and help restore others so that fractured humankind may be whole again. Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do it, truly, in memory of me.” My friends, let us try to put ourselves back into that room. Let’s pretend that we’re there and Jesus has just washed our feet, and we’re ashamed, but now we have the message. And during the rest of this service we promise anew to Jesus to be his living community and his presence, and resolve that all shall know we are Christians by our love, one for the other.

WEEKLY MEMORIZATION

Taken from the gospel for today’s session….
At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow.

Reflection Questions:
Love is not a feeling; it is a decision. Jesus chose to love those who had not always been as he would have liked, and who would fail him in the last days of his life. Whom do I choose to love in spite of how I feel?

What does “to the end” mean to you? Is there anyone that you love “to the end”?

How do I “show my love” to those I really love?

How hard is it to do demeaning, servant-like things for another person? What makes it hardr? What makes it easier?

“You are to do exactly as I have done for you”. What has Jesus done for me that I must replicate?

What in my life needs to be cleansed?

Why did Peter react the way he did? Has another person’s ultra-kind, ultra self-sacrificing, or ultra humble behavior ever bothered you? How did you react?

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking questions:
Two reflections on humility:

• Spiritual writer Paula Huston said” Truly humble people are grounded inreality. They neither preen undel illusions of greatness nor suffer agonies of self-hatred.” Where do I fit on this spectrum?

• Rick Warren wrote: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. What, for you, is true humility? What is false humility?

Poetic Reflection in the Ignatian Style/Imagination: Imagine that you are there in that upper room, that you are Judas. What are you thinking and feeling as you see Jesus kneeling before you, knowing what you area about to do? Then imagine that you are Jesus, knowing what you know about Judas. How do you feel?

Jesus Washes Judas’ Feet by Andreas Kevington
That moment, when you knelt before him,
took off his sandals, readied the water,
did you look up?  Search his eyes?
Find in them some love, some trace
of all that had passed between you?
As you washed his feet, holding them in your hand,
watching the cool water soak away the dirt,
feeling bones through hard skin,
you knew he would leave the lit room,
and slip out into the dark night.
And yet, with these small daily things –
with washing, with breaking and sharing bread,
you reached out your hand, touched, fed.
Look, the kingdom is like this:
as small as a mustard seed, as yeast,
a box of treasure hidden away beneath the dirt.
See how such things become charged,
mighty, when so full of love. This is the way.
In that moment, when silence ebbed between you,
and you wrapped a towel around your waist;
when you knew, and he knew, what would be,
you knelt before him, even so, and took off
his sandals, and gently washed his feet.

POETIC REFLECTION

Read this poem, then write your own note to Jesus about being made whole and clean by him.

The Touch of the Towel
Jesus, you kneel before me
You remove my shoes and I am exposed
My feet are grimy
full of calluses and cracks
pungent with sweat and toe jam
I’m embarrassed by them
I pull back but you reassure
You’re not offended
I feel welcome in your hands
vulnerable, yet safe
The cleansing begins
I see your reflection in the ripples
I see me, too
Your water brings truth and life
Who I am and who I can be
I am whole and home in the touch the towel
You look at my neighbor and hand it to me
poem
© 2011 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia