Holy Thursday

*Thursday 17th April, 2025*

*HOLY THURSDAY*

If you bring burdens with you tonight, say with our Lord, “ _My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”_ (Matthew 26:42).

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God, come to our assistance.

Lord, make haste to help us,

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Send the fire of your Holy Spirit deep within us.

Souls in purgatory, pray for us.

Angels and Saints, pray for us.

May the Lord bless us and keep us;

May the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us;

May the Lord turn his face toward us and give us peace. Amen

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*Verse Before the Gospel*
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.

*The 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 realise 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*

Holy Thursday is also called Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum, which is translated “mandate.”

It is on this night that our Lord gave the mandate to “do this in remembrance of me.”

That mandate was the command to celebrate the Most Holy Eucharist until the end of time, a mandate that the faithful continue to keep.

Holy Thursday began with Jesus sending Peter and John ahead to prepare the Upper Room for the celebration of the Passover meal.

During the meal, Jesus gave a witness of selfless, sacrificial service by fulfilling the role of a servant and washing the feet of the disciples.

After that, Jesus transformed the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity for the very first time, and the disciples received Holy Communion.

By commanding them to “do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus instituted the new sacramental priesthood. He also predicted that one of those priests would betray Him and another would deny Him, a sign that His chosen priests then and now are also sinners.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus gave a lengthy sermon and then went out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray in agony as He awaited His arrest.

Peter, James, and John went with Him but fell asleep, abandoning our Lord in His last agony.

Jesus was arrested, endured the scrutiny of the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas, and then was imprisoned so that He could be sent for judgment by Pilate.

During the interrogations, the disciples fled, and Peter, the future leader of the Church, denied he knew Jesus three times.

Was this truly a “holy” night?

Indeed.

True holiness is not a matter of having everything in your life be easy. It’s not about having the most entertaining and comfortable life possible. It’s not about avoiding every obstacle and difficulty that might befall you. Holiness is about fidelity to the fulfillment of the will of the Father in Heaven.

Jesus fulfilled the Father’s will that night flawlessly.

He set the stage for the coming of the Holy Spirit, instituted the Sacraments, and prepared to empower those Sacraments with His very life, which would be sacrificed the following day.

During the evening of Holy Thursday, after the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful accompany Jesus on a procession from the church to an altar of repose where our Lord’s sacred Body is placed until midnight.

Whether you are able to kneel before that altar tonight or not, be with our Lord in prayer.

Keep vigil with Him.

Hear our Lord say to you, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).

If you struggle with accompanying our Lord in prayer, then hear Him say to you what He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40–41).

If you bring burdens with you tonight, say with our Lord, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” (Matthew 26:42).

With a concerted effort, remain recollected throughout this night, tomorrow, and Saturday. It all begins tonight but culminates with Easter joy on Sunday.

Enter Jesus’ suffering and death so that you can also share in His Resurrection!

We are sent forth from every Eucharist to reveal something of this servant love of God in our dealings with one another.

This evening we celebrate and give thanks for all in our parish who serve others as the Lord has served and continues to serve us.

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*PRAYER BASED ON TODAY’S GOSPEL*

My agonising Lord, You endured every human suffering imaginable out of love for me and all Your children. Please give me the grace I need to accompany You through Your suffering and death. May I unite my sufferings with Yours, embracing them freely and with love, so that I may fulfill the Father’s will, sacrificially laying my life down for others, and may one day share fully in the glories of Your Resurrection. Jesus, I trust in You.

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May the all-powerful Lord
grant us a restful night
and a peaceful death.
— Amen.

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Father, I thank you for you have heard my prayer
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