Holy Thursday
Reading and Reflection
The Holy Thursday Mass offers us a chance to deepen our understanding of Eucharist, of service, and of Passover. How do we prepare? Drawing from Praying Lent, the online ministries of Creighton University, we can prepare ourselves first by reflecting on all the gifts and being grateful. The readings remind us that we, too, have been saved from slavery and brought to the new land. We can prepare by knowing that the twelve people who get their feet washed are representatives of us all and so we might feel Peter's hesitation to have Jesus wash his feet. As we bathe today, we can think of that water washing over us as the water that Jesus bathes us with. How do we resist the love of that washing? How hard is it to love some people? Do we understand that Jesus' love was for all of them? Thus we can be prepared for the Eucharist and the power and meaning of this gift. When the altar is stripped, we can also understand that we strip away everything else and just focus on the death of Jesus. We leave in silence, prepared for Good Friday.
Please come to any or all of these beautiful services.
Today let us pray for St. James Parish and the
Pastoral Staff.
