maundy thursday

Maundy Thursday, April 17

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer: By your cross, O Lord, you show the extravagance of your love for us.  Love than knows no limits, no boundaries.  Love that pours down upon us from every wound of your beloved Son.  More love than we could ever ask for or imagine.  When we are tempted to doubt the depths of your heart for us, let our eyes immediately look to Jesus crucified—and may all doubt be taken away.  In His name.  Amen.

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 13:1-38

Reading for Reflection:

Try to imagine the scene.  You are sitting at the table with Jesus and his friends on the night before he died.  A confusing sorrow overshadows you.  Yet a mysterious hope has settled in your heart.  Suddenly Jesus is standing in front of you.  He looks into your eyes and immediately you are filled with an awareness of your tremendous worth.

                                       

                                          Supper was special that night

                                          There was both a heaviness and a holiness

                                                hanging in the air

                                          We couldn’t explain the mood

                                          It was sacred, yet sorrowful.

                                          Gathered around the table

                                                eating that solemn, holy meal

                                                seemed to us the most important meal

                                                we had ever sat down to eat.

 

                                          We were dwelling in the heart of mystery

                                          Though dark the night

                                          Hope felt right

                                                as if something evil

                                                was about to be conquered.

                                          And then suddenly

                                          the One we loved startled us all

                                          He got up from the table

                                          and put on an apron.

                                          Can you imagine how we felt?

                                          God in an apron!

                                          Tenderness encircled us

                                                as He bowed before us.

                                          He knelt and said,

                                                “I choose to wash your feet

                                                 because I love you.”

                                          God in an apron, kneeling

                                          I couldn’t believe my eyes.

                                          I was embarrassed

                                                until his eyes met mine

                                          I sensed my value then.

                                          He touched my feet

                                          He held them in his strong hands

                                          He washed them

                                          I can still feel the water

                                          I can still feel the touch of his hands.

                                          I can still see the look in his eyes.

                                          Then he handed me a towel

                                                and said,

                                          “As I have done

                                           so you must do.”

                                          Learn to bow

                                          Learn to kneel.

                                          Let your tenderness encircle

                                          everyone you meet

                                          Wash their feet

                                                not because you have to,

                                                because you want to.

                                          It seems I’ve stood two thousand years

                                                holding the towel in my hands,

                                          “As I have done so you must do

                                                keeps echoing in my heart.

                                          “There are so many feet to wash,”

                                                I keep saying

                                          “No,” I hear God’s voice

                                                resounding through the years

                                          “There are only my feet

                                          What you do for them

                                                You do for me.”

                                          (Seasons of the Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                        
Closing Prayer: God our Father, you have invited us to share in the supper which your Son gave to his Church to proclaim his death until he comes: may he nourish us by his presence, and unite us in his love; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.  Amen.  (A Collect for Passion Week, Oremus)