Some call this day Holy Thursday, others Maundy Thursday. What a strange word, Maundy – it comes from the Latin mandatum, or commandment. John’s Gospel has Jesus saying, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.” And that is what this day is all about: acts of love that we are to give to one another.
It’s also a somber day for we know that after Jesus and his disciples share that meal, it will be the last they have together, for Jesus will be betrayed by a symbol of love that is abused: a kiss. How often we are betrayed by such symbols, and how often we betray others in the same way.
Gethsemane is an olive grove, and the trees there are as old as the story. The oldest tree is easily 5 feet wide. Such a peaceful place to be the location of such betrayal. But betrayal takes many forms. How is it that we betray ourselves? In many ways, to be sure. Sometimes all we have to do is give up a dream.
Prayer for the Day
We come to you, O Holy One, asking that you forgive our weakness,
For the Lenten road is difficult and we walk with dragging feet.
We do not want this last week, remembering death and suffering,
But an easy Easter with flowers and butterflies.
Show us the path and make clear the way,
So we are able to be your peacemakers in the world today.
In the name of him who came to bring us a new kind of peace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light.
- Kamand Kourjori, Iranian born poet, now in Wales
“Et tu, Brute?”
- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1 (1564-1616)
O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising up against me;
Many ae saying to me, “There is no help fo you in God.”
But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord and the Lord answers me from the holy hill.
I lie down and sleep; I wake again for the Lord sustains me.
I am not afraid of ten thousands of people, who have set themselves against me.
Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
You break the teeth of the wicked.
Psalm 3: 1-7