HOLY THURSDAY

Holy Thursday comes but once a year, and we celebrate the Lord’s Last Supper with a Seder meal, followed by Mass. We manage to be quite festive at dinner throughout its ritualized service, starting with a question and answer period about why we eat bitter herbs dipped in salty water, sweet jam, matzoh, and, of course, the sacrificial lamb.

The Seder dinner is an example of just how God manifests in all of us, and that each of us is a sacred presence. One way or another, all of us have crossed the Red Sea, the waters having parted for our safe passage. Our pursuers were defeated.

As for Jesus’ dictum, “. . .you also should do as I have done to you,” whether we are washing each other’s feet figuratively or literally, our destiny is to glorify God in the tenderness of our relationships. In the end, it is the only offering we have to give.