Maundy Thursday 5pm
Thursday
5pm
The evening begins
When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ They became greatly distresses and began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord? He answered them, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi? He replied, ‘You have said so.’ (Matthew 26: 20-25)
The waiting is over. Jesus and the disciples have arrived, and Jesus took his place at the head of the table. The Eucharist which we enjoy these days is normally with the priest and the congregation facing each other except when the celebration is in the Brocket Chapel. This is the supreme act of encounter with God and with one another as family, as community, because a meal always is. Learning to value the Eucharist as a family meal, as much as anything else, is something that we have to work at. It is the most sublime spiritual experience.