Loving Till the End

Maundy Thursday is the day of love, humility, worship and service.

Love manifested in the giving of life, in the sharing of the fraternal meal, in remaining in the Eucharist.

Jesus wants to remain with us in the Eucharist. We become his ‘tent’, his dwelling place. This is the mystery of the bread and wine, of the Lord with us, in us, within us. (cf. Pope Francis. Holy Thursday 2020)

Jesus, the Master and Lord, lowers himself, humbles himself as a servant when he washes the feet of his disciples. It is a sign of love and unlimited service. He washes the feet, healing from selfishness, hardness of heart, envy, frustration, misunderstanding, sadness that slowly destroys. Jesus heals by transforming from within, opening the heart to the Love of God and neighbour and inviting us to share the fraternal table in his Kingdom.

“One day, while I was before the Blessed Sacrament, a great interior recollection came over me, and I remained as if outside myself, admiring greatly the infinite love of God for mankind, letting Himself to be in the Blessed Sacrament” (María Antonia París, Diary MAP25).

“On August 26, 1861, while I was in prayer in the Church of the Rosary, in La Granja, at 7 o’clock in the evening, the Lord granted me the great grace of keeping the sacramental species and always having the Sacrament in my breast day and night; for the same reason, I must always be very interiorly recollected and devout; and I must also pray and face all the evils of Spain, as the Lord told me to do. To this effect, he has brought to my memory a number of things: how without merit, without talent, without the commitment of persons, he has raised me from the lowest of the plebs to the highest position, next to the kings of the earth; and now next to the King of heaven….” (Anthony Mary Claret, Aut. PC 694).