Two phrases dominate the observance of Maundy Thursday.  “Do this is remembrance of me.” “A new commandment I give you: Love one another as I have loved you.”

 

“Do this in remembrance of me.” In our English usage, the opposite of “remember” is “forget.”  The Greek word for “remember” is much richer, and so the opposite of “remember” is closer to “dismember.” When we celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes re-membered; thus, the Anglican Eucharistic doctrine of Real Presence.  We seek not so much to explain how or why, but rather, to reverently and joyfully enter into this Holy Mystery.

 

“A new commandment.”  Maundy refers to this mandatum, this mandate, to love one another as Jesus has loved us.  “Oh, no!” some of the disciples must have thought, “anything but that!”  To love unconditionally, sacrificially, and not just in theory but in action. To love this way is also to enter in to the Holy Mystery of the Real Presence of Christ as found in the hearts of all people. It is meaningless to reverence Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar if we cannot also reverence Christ in all people.

 

And so the Triduum Sacrum, Three Holy Days begin. With the Real Presence of Christ, in the Eucharist, and in his people.

 

As we gather during this holy time, know that you are in my heart and in my prayers.

 

Terry+