Thursday, 3/28/13
St. John begins his account of the Last Supper by
saying of Jesus, “He loved his own in the
world, and he loved them to the end.”
We might take that as an invitation to reciprocate.
We, who are his own in the world,
should love him as completely as we are able.
Luke let us into the depth of Our Lord’s emotions by
quoting Jesus using a strong Aramaic expression. Luke quotes Jesus saying,
“With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Although Rabbis in training were required to
perform every kind of service for their masters, they were not required to tend
to the master’s feet. That being so, John the Baptist was being most
self-abasing by saying he wasn’t worthy to tie Our Lord’s sandal strap.
In picturing the Last Supper in our imaginations we
should see the disciples looking to one another, asking who messed up on in not
hiring someone to wash their feet. In our imagination we should play out the
scene, watching Jesus knotting the towel around himself, pouring the water into
the basin. Was he experiencing a deep personal love for each disciple he came
to with his basin?
Jesus said, “I
have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should
also do.” He was not telling us to take him as a model in feet washing. As
people aspiring to be Christians we must take him as our model in all things.
I haven’t seen this fully explained anywhere, but I
believe Jesus could not have given us Holy Communion, and then gone on living,
as he did after he fed the five thousand. My understanding of his saying, “This is my body which is given for you”
is that he was giving us his own dear life as well.
1 comment:
Dear Father Sullivan.
Praise be to the Lord!
It's amazing for me to read your sermon in Korea.
I'm the elder brother of Sister Josepha from Yang yang.
I've been reading "One Happy Old Prist" and it's very interesting and instructive story.
I remember that you had told us stories of your childhood, " Daddy, let me do it" and cracking of your head in winter.
It's an amzing grace that I could get your sermon through internet and meditate it with Sister Josepha by e-mail.
She is not good command of English, so I translate your sermon into Korean.
May I ask a question about today's sermon?
The last part of your sermon today(3/28/13) sent me into confusion. It's very hard to grasp. This is the paragraph, "... but I believe Jesus could not have given us Holy Communion, and then gone on living, as he did after he fed the five thousand..."
Would you be kind enough to explain in detail?
Please, answer me, Father!
Thank you very much!
From Paul Yangiel Kim.
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