If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
-John 13:14-15
EXCEEDING GOODNESS
The New Year has just begun as I write this reflection for Didache. I cannot help but feel overwhelming gratitude to God for His exceeding goodness to me in the past year. He has showered me abundantly with both material and spiritual blessings. He has promised me a “future full of hope.” And yet, even as I recall and list down the big and small blessings I received from Him last year, all these pale in comparison to His gift of Himself on the cross.
Nothing beats this great mystery and miracle! The Son of God coming
into the world and laying down His life to save sinners like me even
before I’d decided to change my ways or love Him back. The Son of God
rising from the dead and overcoming sin and death so I could have
eternal life. The Son of God calling me His friend and loving me this
much.
How can I repay the Lord for all the good He has done for me? I can
never repay Him. I can only live my life following His example, as my
way of loving Him back and showing Him gratitude. Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag
Holy Thursday
1ST READING
The
Passover of the Jews is the forerunner to our celebration of the
Eucharist. The Last Supper is the event that links the two celebrations.
The Jews remember deliverance from slavery in Egypt; we remember
deliverance from slavery to sin. Indeed, through the redeeming work of
Christ, sin has lost any absolute power it may have gained. Let us be
faithful and live in Jesus’ victory over sin.
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. 3 Tell
the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of
your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each
household. 4 If
a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest
household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to
the number of persons who partake of it. 5 The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You
shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with
the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the
evening twilight. 7 They
shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the
lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. 8 That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 11 This
is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet
and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It
is the Passover of the Lord. 12 For
on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every
firstborn of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all
the gods of Egypt — I, the Lord! 13 But
the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will
pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive
blow will come upon you. 14 This
day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall
celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.”
P S A L M
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
R: Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.
12 How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? 13 The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord; (R) 15 Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. 16 I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. (R) 17 To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. 18 My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people. (R)
2ND READING
In
the Pauline correspondence, the celebration of the Eucharist in a very
simple form is mentioned and is an evidence of its early development
within the Christian faith. I t has been around now for almost 2,000
years as a celebration and memorial to what Jesus has done for us. I
like the final line of one of the hymns we used to sing that says, “We
remember; we celebrate; we believe.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 Brothers
and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, 24 and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In
the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
GOSPEL
Service
is at the heart of any love relationship. Without love, service becomes
mechanical and meaningless. We need both for a healthy relationship.
Let us examine our lives today as we meditate upon the scene of Jesus in
the Garden of Gethsemane. Let us ask ourselves how we can better serve
God and one another.
John 13:1-15
1 Before
the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from
this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved
them to the end. 2 The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, 3 fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, 4 he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” 8 Peter
said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless
I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” 10 Jesus
said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet
washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” 11 For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 So
when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined
at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for
you? 13 You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. 14 If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
REFLECTION
VISITA IGLESIA
After
the solemn liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, people will go around visiting
seven churches for the traditional practice called Visita Iglesia. This
tradition dates back to the Apostolic Age, when early Christians on
pilgrimage in the Holy Land prayed at shrines deemed important to the
story of the Passion of Jesus. The visit to the seven sites recalled
seven Gospel events: Jesus’ Trial before the High Priest Annas (John
18:12-23); Journey from Annas to the High Priest Caiaphas (Mark
14:53-63); Mock Trial at the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-67); Trial before
Pilate (Luke 23:1-5); Trial before Herod (Luke 23:6-12); Sentencing by
Pilate (Luke 23:13-25); and Carrying of the Cross to Calvary (John
19:17-18).
In 313 A.D., pious observants also began to make seven visits within
these Roman basilicas: Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s
Basilica, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Lawrence
Outside the Walls, Shrine of Holy Cross of Jerusalem, and St. Sebastian
Outside the Walls. In the Great Jubilee Year 2000, Blessed Pope John
Paul II replaced St. Sebastian Outside the Walls with the Shrine of the
Madonna of Divine Love.
Visiting seven churches, we recall how Jesus willed that all He had
started in His three-year ministry should now form the heritage,
patrimony and responsibility of His Church or “Iglesia.” As regards the
Law, He has summarized everything in one mandate: “Love one another.” As
regards liturgy and worship, Jesus perfects the Old Testament
provision: His own flesh and blood He now gives in the Holy Eucharist as
the most acceptable offering to the heavenly Father. In contrast with
the hereditary priesthood that Moses instituted, Jesus institutes the
college of the Twelve as ministers who will now “do this in memory” of
Jesus.
In our Visita Iglesia let us pray not just for our family’s and
personal intentions. We pray for the protection, faithfulness and
advancement of our Church, the community born from the death and
resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
"Lord,
show me how I can best show my gratitude for Your exceeding goodness to
me. Inspire me through Your Holy Spirit and enable me to express my
thanksgiving in my own unique way."
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