21/12/2003 -
Notes on the Eucharist (3rd of 3) - "Living" - 21 December 2003
THE EUCHARIST Living “This third leaflet aims to help you take into prayer what it means to live the Eucharist that we celebrate” + Brian Fourth Sunday of Advent 21 December 2003 (Year of the Eucharist, November 2003 – June 2004) “Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Then do not distain Him when you see Him in rags. After having honoured Him in Church with silken vestments, do not leave Him to die of cold outside for lack of clothing. For it is the same Jesus who says, ‘This is my body’ and who says, ‘You saw me hungry and did not give me to eat – what you have refused to the least of these my little ones, you have refused it to me.’” (St John Chrysostom) We must not separate Jesus’ life and death. In life and in death He gave Himself – to his Father, to others, to us. In the Eucharist He continues that giving, so that with Him, we too might give ourselves to the Father, to others. The Eucharist is to be received but also to be lived. “Go the Mass is ended” is an invitation to do so. “Now before the Festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. … And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’ “After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.’” (John 13:1, 3-15) 1. The Fourth Gospel situates the Washing of the Disciples’ Feet during the Last Supper. Every Holy Thursday evening, we link closely together the Washing of the Feet and the Gift of the Eucharist. Read the passage slowly, perhaps a couple of times. … Note anything that particularly strikes you. 2. The story is in two parts: Jesus ‘serving’ the disciples and then his urging the disciples to ‘serve’ each other. According to Jesus, sound human relationships are to be based on a willingness to receive (to be served) and a willingness to give (to serve). Which do you find more difficult – receiving or giving? What do you think lay at the root of Peter’s reluctance to have his feet washed? 3. “This is my body given for you … This is my blood, poured out for you.” What do our Eucharistic words and actions tell us about ‘service’? 4. Call to mind the types of ‘service’ of others in which you are involved (at home, at work; in the wider community and world). 5. Give thanks for all that you receive from others – call them to mind in prayer, especially if their giving is ‘costly’ for them. |