REFLECTION
In the Lenten Season, we hear our Lord’s call to intensify our struggle against sin and evil – all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were committed at our Baptism. God’s forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives continues with us during our entire life because of the love God has for us in Jesus Christ. In the Holy Communion we are most intimately grounded in this love. On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion, Eucharist). This year, when we cannot gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we experience a strange longing for the sacrament. BUT, in that longing, that loss, we need to remember all of what the Gospel tells us. This day of the “commandment” (Maundy) actually has two commandments. One is to celebrate the Sacrament but the other is just as important, that we love one another. So especially today let us search for ways to love one another. We can do that even as we practice social distancing: Call someone on the phone to encourage them, write a note to be mailed, remember our friends and family in prayer….
The Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins before God and our neighbor.
Most merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
In thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done
And by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent,
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
Have mercy on us and forgive us:
That we may delight in your will,
And walk in your ways,
To the glory of your name. Amen
Optional Washing of Hands
In the last few weeks, we have become very accustom to washing our hands frequently. Every time we do that it’s an opportunity to remember Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. A wonderful sign of his love for them and us and a powerful reminder that he has come to wash away our sins. If you can, take a few minutes now to wash your hands.
FORGIVENESS OF SIN
May Almighty God, have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
The Collect of the Day
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lessons
First Reading: Exodus 12:1-4, 5-10, 11-14
A reading from the Book of Exodus: The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the LORD. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Psalm
Psalm 116:1, 10-17: Dilexi, quoniam
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.
10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord’s house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Second reading
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
A reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The word of the Lord.
The Holy Gospel
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Prayers of the People-Form VI
In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.
For all people in their daily life and work;
For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.
For this community, the nation, and the world;
For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.
For the just and proper use of your creation;
For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.
For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble;
For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.
For the peace and unity of the Church of God:
For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.
For, Michael, our Presiding Bishop, and DeDe, our Bishop; and for all bishops and other ministers;
For all who serve God in his Church.
For the special needs and concerns of this congregation.
Hear us, Lord
For your mercy is great.
We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings in this life.
We exalt you, O God our King;
And praise your Name for ever and ever.
We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in your eternal kingdom. Lord, let your loving-kindness be upon them;
Who put their trust in you.
It is right and good that we should at all times and in all places offer thanks and praise to you, O Lord, holy Father, through Christ our Lord; who on the tree of the cross gave salvation to all, that, where death began, thee life might be restored, and that he, who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome. And so, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.
He stretched out his arms upon the hard wood of the cross, and offered himself in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
When we gather to celebrate the Holy Communion, we hear the familiar words:
On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread …
Likewise, after supper he took a cup of wine…
As I cannot now receive You Sacramentally, I pray that you would come at least spiritually into my heart.
AMEN.
And now, as our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to pray,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
A Closing Prayer
Almighty and ever living God,
we thank you for feeding us
with the spiritual food
and for assuring us that we are living members of the Body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom.
And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do,
to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.
To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Now observe a time of silent reflection.