Praying Maundy Thursday

"Jesus has stooped, insisting that he be allowed to wash our feet. What force compels the God of the universe to do such things? Longing. Jesus has moved heaven and earth out of the profound longing of God’s heart to be reunited with us. To serve us in great humility. Today we are called to channel our longing to the love of God and to one another." – Br. Todd Blackham

Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the holiest three days in an already holy week.   The liturgy commemorates the humility of the Lord in his willingness to do the most lowly of tasks.

The word maundy is an English corruption of the Latin mandatum, from the ‘new commandment’ that Jesus gives his disciples after washing their feet, an event we reenact and remember in the liturgy. At the conclusion of our Eucharist, we are invited, as were the first disciples, to watch and pray with the Lord on the night before his crucifixion and death. We keep watch through the night, here at the moment of Jesus' greatest need. On Maundy Thursday, as you are fed by God's body and blood, pray for your deepest need. As your feet are washed, ask God to bring healing to what is broken in you.

Where is your deepest need right now?

Audio:

• Anthems sung by the Schola
• “Now my tongue the mystery telling”
• “Stay with me”
• Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love
• Ubi Caritas
• Go to dark Gethsemane

Sermons:

• "God's Longing" – Br. Todd Blackham
  On Maundy Thursday, Br. Todd Blackham urges us to experience the depths to which Jesus has gone – moving heaven and earth – out of God's profound longing to be reunited with us.
• "And It Was Night" – Br. James Koester
  This fear-filled Holy Week, Br. James Koester encourages us to see that, as the world is plunged into darkness, Jesus stands among us, inviting us not to fear, but to love.
• "A Radical Act" – Br. David Vryhof
  By washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus does not diminish his authority. Rather, he shows them a new way of exercising authority, a new way of being with others that is characterized by humility, compassion and loving service. Br. David Vryhof invites us, and the Church, to follow in these radical footsteps.
• "Joining the Dance" – Br. Nicholas Bartoli
  The foot washing ritual of Maundy Thursday invites us, as sacraments do, to be emptied of everything except the truth of our identity in Christ.
• "Feet First" – Br. Luke Ditewig
  The foot washing reminds us that love is always vulnerable: emotionally exposing, risky and essential for living well.
• "Maundy Thursday Remembrance" – Br. Curtis Almquist
  Take what is cut off, broken, lost, detached from your own life, and allow it on this holy night to be reattached, reconnected, remembered.
• "Love Is His Meaning" – Br. James Koester
  Everywhere we look, everything we taste, everything we feel, everything we hear, everything we smell tonight is a reminder that God loves us.
• "The Scandal of Service" – Br. James Koester
  When we are prepared to fall on our knees before another in acts of humility and service, we too have the opportunity to change the world.
• "Called to Serve" – Br. David Vryhof
  As Jesus reveals his true vocation, we learn that we are all called to serve.