Today is Maundy Thursday when we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. We remember that we are fed by that bread and cup, costly love offered for the sake of the world. The word “maundy” comes from a Latin word: mandatum. And mandatum means “mandate” or a “commandment.” And when we talk about “Maundy Thursday” we’re talking about “mandate Thursday.” We’re talking about the night before he died, when Jesus told his disciples exactly what he expected them to do next.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13: 34-35
In John’s gospel when the disciples gather during the Passover celebration Jesus washes the disciples feet. It is an act of love. We are commanded to love.
I remember being in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the museum where I saw a silver communion
cup over 400 years old used in an early Church of Scotland parish in the midst of the Reformation. Thanks be to God today for the the Lord’s Supper celebrated through the centuries and for the work of love and compassion that continues.
Blessing the Bread,
the Cup
by Jan Richardson
Let us bless the bread
that gives itself to us
with its terrible weight,
its infinite grace.
Let us bless the cup
poured out for us
with a love that drenches,
that makes us anew.
Let us gather
around these gifts
simply given
and deeply blessed.
And then let us go
bearing the bread,
carrying the cup,
laying the table
within a hungering world.
Holy Adventures 