HOLY THURSDAY TRADITIONS
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
April 09, 2020
Tonight is all about Traditions, and the keeping of holy
memories. All of our readings speak of it. The book of Exodus has God
commanding to Moses and Aaron that they begin in solemn tradition, and keep it
forever. A tradition of gathering as families around a table at home that today
the Jews call “Seder”. In this season of Passover, our Jewish neighbors continue
to do it as best they can. But many or most of them are not in the room
together. The Ritual is different this year, but the holy memory remains, as it
must.
For us Christians the situation is not so different. We have
been instructed by Jesus himself to hang on to our sacred memory through
rituals – the weekly gathering for Eucharist, in memory of Him. And specifically
on this Holy Thursday evening to wash one another as a way of recalling that to
follow this Lord ours is to serve the rest – not just as some pious sentiment
of the heart, but as a grubby, messy touching of the flesh. Dirty feet.
Washing. Just like our Jewish neighbors tonight, we are unable to follow the
ritual as we would want to, and so it is all the more important that we hold
firm to the memory to which the rituals point. More than most years, we don’t
have our physical coming together to remind us again about why we come together. So we have to be intentional about that in
our own homes.
We can’t was feet here in church as we normally would, but
we can re-dedicate ourselves to what that gesture means – not just once a year,
but every day of our lives. To love is to serve, and to worship. That’s how we
Christians believe. Remember. Remember. Remember.
“Do you know what I have done for you?” Jesus asks. “I who
am your teacher and Lord. As I have done for you, so must you do for each other
in memory of me.” Remember. And when the rituals fail or are impossible,
remember anyway.
The reason for our being together on this Holy Evening is
not the ritual itself, but the person and the calling to whom all the rituals
direct us; Jesus Christ. Not just as a holy man from long ago, but as a mission
for us all. Tomorrow we will remember the agonizing extent to which that call
may lead us – some of us – even to death itself, for the sake of the memory. We
will implore in song then that Jesus remember us when He comes in to his
Kingdom. But really that’s not in doubt. The better questions for us is whether we will remember Him while we are still on the way.
We can all do that, if not here and now in church, than in
the days and months to come through our outreach to others who will need it
more than ever as they come to terms with what we have lost in these days.
Remember. Remember. Remember.
Perhaps it is an irony, but on a night when we cannot wash
feet, out of concern for contagion, it is a very good night for the washing of
hands, for the same reason. All of the health experts are telling us to do it
now. So maybe at the end of our Mass today, if you are living in proximity to
another loved one, or a family member, or a neighbor, go find that person or
people, get your hands all soap, and help each other to wash and wash, and sing
“Jesus Remember Me” as you do. And remember for yourselves what this is all
about.
Our ancestors remembered for us, even when it was hard. Let’s
us remember for those who come next.
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