04.02.10
Why is this night different from all other nights?
A Maundy Thursday Reflection
Two thousand years ago, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. It was then that He instituted the Eucharist.
During the meal, He got up and washed his disciples feet. It was a very improper and upsetting thing for him to do. He, the Son of God, got on his knees and touched the feet of his followers. Foot-washing was a chore for servants, not leaders. He told them they were to love and serve one another as he had done for them.
After dinner, they went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him, until He was betrayed.
The Maundy Thursday service is a very powerful one. Feet are washed. The Eucharist is celebrated. And then all hell breaks loose.
The reserve sacrament is not placed in the tabernacle, but instead, processed out. The sanctuary light–the eternal flame–is extinguished!
This bit of liturgical trivia can also be found in synagogues, symbolizing the presence of God and hearkening back to the menorah in the the Hebrew temple.
So Jesus is arrested and taken away, and the reserve sacrament–the very presence of Christ–is carried off, and the candle is extinguished to let you know it.
The procession returns, sans Jesus, and the altar–the entire sanctuary is laid bare. No more altar clothes. No more cushions on benches and seats. No more sanctuary light. It’s as though the Grinch has stolen Christmas. The sanctuary is denuded and, for all practical practical purposes, desecrated.
And then after a solemn prayer, we leave in pensive silence. There are wordless hugs. The kind of hugs you see after a great public tragedy. Perhaps the kind of hugs the disciples exchanged after Jesus’ arrest.
Because we know what comes next, and we don’t want to think about it just yet.
I’m reminded of some very old words. They’re from the seder. “How is this night different from all other nights?” They’re a part of a catechism-like question and answer bit of the haggadah, meant to teach children (and remind adults) why passover is celebrated.
But I remember them from a different context. I remember those words coming from Mary’s mouth in the Passion of the Christ, a deeply troubled look on her face.
The Paschal Lamb’s fate is sealed. There will be more grief before there is joy.
But for now, we will keep watch with Him, in the place where the reserve sacrement was taken.