postID: 7004; title: Maundy Thursday
groupKey: secondary
groupKey: other
Maundy Thursday
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may thankfully receive the same in remembrance of him who in these holy mysteries giveth us a pledge of life eternal, the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Array
(
[date] => 2013-03-28 17:30:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1059
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => formatted
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2013-03-28 17:30:00
)
1 post(s) found for dateStr : 2013-03-28postID: 7004 (Maundy Thursday)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7004; date_type: variable; year: 2013
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7004
displayDates for postID: 7004/year: 2013
Array
(
[0] => 2013-03-28
)
postPriority: 2primaryPost found for date: 2013-03-28 with ID: 7004 (Maundy Thursday)
Maundy Thursday
Array
(
[date] => 2013-03-28 17:30:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1059
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => simple
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2013-03-28 17:30:00
)
1 post(s) found for dateStr : 2013-03-28postID: 7004 (Maundy Thursday)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7004; date_type: variable; year: 2013
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7004
displayDates for postID: 7004/year: 2013
Array
(
[0] => 2013-03-28
)
postPriority: 2primaryPost found for date: 2013-03-28 with ID: 7004 (Maundy Thursday)
The reading_id [252189] is already in the array.
No update needed.
Scripture citation(s): John 13:1-17, 31b-35
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
✛
Mandate Thursday
Array
(
[0] => 60758
)
book: [Array
(
[0] => 60758
)
] (reading_id: 252189)bbook_id: 60758
The bbook_id [60758] is already in the array.
No update needed for sermon_bbooks.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Solemn Liturgy of Maundy Thursday presents the drama of Christ’s last night with his disciples before his death. It contains three acts followed by a prelude to Good Friday. The tone of the liturgy suffuses glory into solemn sadness.
The first act is the next thing we do, having heard the Word of God in Holy Scripture. Saint John says after his Last Supper Jesus rose from the table at which he was reclining with the disciples, laid aside his garments and girded himself with a towel. He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel. Peter objected. But when Jesus told him that he would not be clean unless washed, Peter asked to be washed everywhere. Jesus said his feet were enough, and this act of lowly service was to characterize his disciples. So all were clean, except one, Judas Iscariot, whose determination to betray Jesus repelled the Lord’s cleansing. Judas went out into the night.
The second act is Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, Holy Communion, during the Supper. This we heard tonight from Saint Paul. Holy Week was the season of the Passover. Christ made himself to be our Passover Lamb. At his Last Supper Jesus took bread, gave thanks to God, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples with the words, “This is my Body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” After Supper in similar fashion Jesus took a cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” As often as we do this, says St. Paul, we “show forth the Lord’s death” until he returns. It is how we keep in touch.
The third act, following these two actions at the table in the Upper Room, is Jesus’ withdrawal to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he will undergo his final agony, his Agony and Bloody Sweat before his arrest, trial, condemnation and crucifixion. The die has been cast so far as the powers ranged against Christ are concerned. Judas will lead them to him. Jesus could conceivably run away. Yet he knew that the hour not only of his enemies and the powers of darkness had come; his hour had come. Thus he prayed and struggled. If it be possible, Father, let this cup pass from me. Yet not my will but thine be done. Three times he prayed similarly as Peter, James and John fought unsuccessfully to stay awake and keep watch with him. We memorialize this watch at our Altar of Repose. It was not even an hour, and they came – Judas with his kiss of peace, followed by a band of soldiers, officers, chief priests and Pharisees with lanterns and torches and weapons. Knowing they would come, Jesus did not flee; he watched and prayed. Now the die was cast for Jesus; he cast the die himself, and they seized him.
The prelude to Good Friday follows quickly. The sanctuary is stripped, the altar is scrubbed. It is the desolation of Jerusalem and the dereliction of the Lord himself. The only Son has gone into the farthest country, the netherworld, to seek his prodigal brothers and sisters, even to Godforsakenness, to bring them home. “My God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me, and art so far from my health and from the words of my complaint?” Why? – Because Love Almighty has come to face to face with ills unlimited, and they will kill him. They kill him, and in so doing they are defeated.
We noted at the beginning that this liturgy combines glory with solemn sadness. Everything we have mentioned is somber. Yet our colors are festal white, even the cross veil. And the choir sang the Gloria which is exceptional in Lent. This glory is suggested, because Love is stronger than death. The real Maundy, the mandate, Jesus’s new Commandment, is not simply that we love our neighbors as ourselves. The Maundy goes beyond the old Law. When he washed their feet, he said to his disciples, “This I command you, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.”
This love shines from the cross, breaks through death and reigns, feeding the members of his body with his body and moving them to minister to the least of his brethren. We would not be doing this at all were it not for the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead. Love is stronger than death; and where charity and love are, there is God.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
