THE FAREWELL THURSDAY

MAUNDY THURSDAY 2022

April 14: Exodus 12: 1-8,11-14; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-15

Farewell moment with Jesus... not just with the apostles, but with humanity. The Christ-event within Incarnation and Salvation is the watershed to understand God's eternal love for us humankind. The earthly sojourn of the incarnate Word is about to end, and it cannot end without a solemn celebration of the moment. Thus Jesus thought of a lovely farewell.

A farewell consists of three important sentiments: to relive the memory of the experiences together,  to create a memorable sign with which the experiences could be perpetrated and a contract of gratitude that would define the further course of action. We find these three so well portrayed in the events today: between Jesus and his disciples; between Jesus and us.

Memory of the past, the memory of the  glorious presence of the Lord with the people, the memory of the powerful God who made them walk through dry land in the midst of the sea, the memory of the mighty God who defeated the armies, the chariots and the horse riders... this is what the people celebrated at Pasch and Jesus wishes to redefine that memory. He wants us, whenever we think of him, of the Christ event that took place in the history of salvation, of the earthly life of the Incarnate Word, to think of the way he served us, the way he emptied himself, the way he bent down to wash out feet - that we may remember the Lord who serves, the Lord who self-empties, the Lord who gave up everything for our good!

Sign forever, that Jesus gave his discples, and to us, is his own body and blood... the sign of the eternal covenant of love. Do this in memory of me, he has said and we do it. But the question is do we do it in memory of him, or in fulfilment of some requirements? Do we do it with real memory of the love of God or as something that is to be done with a ritual rigour and performative perfection? Do we merely do it , or do we make efforts to live that mystery so great and so sweet - containing within it all the sweetness in the world and the goodness of all eternity. Eucharist is the fountain and the fullness of the meaning of our Christian life, and do we really celebrate it in its fullness?

Mandate of gratitude, that Jesus left for his followers, and for us if we count ourselves in - is to serve one another, and not expect to be served or honoured or exalted! We need to choose from our hearts to serve, knowing well not all whom we serve might deserve all that we do! Jesus knew it... he knew who would betray, who would deny and who would desert him... but all the same he knelt down in service, he promised his body and blood and he instituted them his band of apostles: you call me Master and Lord, and so am I. In as much as we do what he did, that is, in as much as we serve our brothers and sisters, beginning from our own family and our own community, in as much as we give of ourselves without counting the cost or without calculating who deserves and who deserves not, we shall be the disciples of this great Master of ours! 

Jesus has celebrated a beautiful farewell with us - making it meaningful, remains our responsibility! How prepared are we to take to heart the mandate that Jesus has given us? Can we really tell Jesus today: Master, here we are to take forward the mission that you had and the mandate that you have given us!