Holy Thursday - March 28, 2024

 Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14     1 Corinthians 11:23-26     John 13:1-15

Grown, He walked through towns and countryside,

feeding hollow-eyed hundreds who pursued him by day.

He learned that the memory of yesterday’s bread

could not relieve today’s hunger.

On the eve of his death,

He at last found a way to keep rejection and hunger at bay.

He held his life in his hands and said to his friends,

“Take. Eat. This is my body, broken for you.”

And when they were filled, commanded:

“Feed the hungry. Do this. Re-member me.”

 

(“Legacy,” from Incarnation, by Sr. Irene Zimmerman, OSF)

 

Re-reading the Scripture selections for Holy Thursday, this Lenten season I was struck by the focus on nourishment, sated not so much by physical means, but through mindful acts of service. In Exodus’ deliberate and detailed instructions about the observance of Passover protocol, we cannot overlook Yahweh’s attention to the family who may be too small to afford purchasing a whole lamb: “You shall share in the lamb in the proportion to number of persons who partake of it” or His attention to the required disposition, “You shall eat like those in flight.” From the Psalm, we read, “I am your servant,” and from Paul’s rendering of Jesus’ words, we infer that He shared His body and blood with all those at the table, including Judas whom He knew would betray Him. The selection from the Gospel of John highlights the humility Jesus requires of us in order to be servants – if, as Christ’s followers, we are to truly acknowledge Him as “teacher” and “model.”

Surely, even as we read about the raw hunger of those starving throughout so much of the world distant from our own, we cannot deny that, even in our own country, region, and community, malnourishment is a reality that far too many – especially children – experience. How do we imagine our role as servants to these people’s needs? Whom do we see as today’s image of the family unable to buy a lamb or for whom actual flight captures their vulnerability?

And what of our own hunger? What do our own souls require to satisfy the visceral longing for fulfillment? How can we approach this Lenten season with an intentionality that allows us to appreciate how the celebration of Holy Thursday – and every Eucharistic feast – is an opportunity to replenish not only our own souls but challenge ourselves to seek occasions of service that will “keep rejection and hunger at bay”?

Q: What urgent hunger in the world have I discerned this Lent, and how will I address it?