Reading 1
Ex 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 present,
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—I, the LORD!
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.”
Reading 2
1 Cor 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.
Gospel
Jn 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.”
Meditation: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Holy Thursday
Today, during a year set aside by Pope Benedict XVI to honor priests, we remember the night when Jesus instituted not only the Eucharist but the priesthood as well. Imagine the privilege and responsibility given to priests to act in the person of Christ as teacher and pastor! Surely this institution deserves to be honored—and those called to the priesthood deserve our prayer and support.
As you ponder today’s readings, think of the many times that you have been absolved of your sins and been reconciled to God through the ministry of a priest. Think of all the Masses that priests have said and all the grace that has been given to you at these Masses—grace to strengthen and purify you, grace to give you comfort and wisdom and guidance, grace to affirm God’s love for you again and again. Think, too, of the numerous times that a priest has opened God’s word for you, as well as all the last rites given and funerals presided over for family members and friends.
Consider everything that flows to us through the ministry of the priesthood, and you will agree with St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests: “A good priest is the greatest treasure the good Lord can grant to a parish and one of the precious gifts of divine mercy.”
Yet for all this grace, the world tends to focus on the small minority of priests who fail in their duties, those whose actions bring scandal to the gospel and the church. All the more reason, then, why we need to pray for priests. The demands of their calling are numerous. The pressures they face in a sometimes hostile world are high. And the sacrifices that they make out of love for the Lord and his people are heroic. May we never forget all that we owe them. And may we always hold them in reverence and respect. They are our fathers as well as our brothers.
“Lord, fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit him whom you have deigned to raise to the rank of the priesthood that he may be worthy to stand without reproach before your altar, to proclaim the gospel of your kingdom, to fulfill the ministry of your word of truth, to offer you spiritual gifts and sacrifices and renew your people by the bath of rebirth.”(From the Byzantine Rite of Ordination)
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