Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje/Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
By John B Monteiro
Mangaluru, Mar 24: Last Supper takes place on Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, which falls on March 24 this year. It is known for the institution of Holy Eucharist (Christa-Prasad) and the priesthood of the church. When the time came for observing the Passover, the annual feast of the Jews, the disciples went to Jesus to ask where they should prepare for him to eat the Passover. He told them, “Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘the Teacher says, where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us”. Accordingly, the disciples prepared the Passover.
Rosario Cathedral
St Lawrence Church, Bondel
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “Take; this is my body”. And he took a cup (of wine), and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank of it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many”. He added, “Do this in remembrance of me” The Holy Eucharist celebrated daily by the priest, wherein bread and wine are believed to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ, is based on this action and command at the Last Supper.
A second aspect of Maundy Thursday is the washing of feet of the disciples by Jesus – an outstanding instance of leading by example. At the Last Supper, Jesus rose, laid aside his outer garments and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and wiped them with the towel.
When Jesus finished washing the feet of his disciples, put on his garments and resumed his place, he said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you”.
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you…. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another”
The washing of the feet is enacted by the priests at the parish level and higher ups up to the Pope in Rome. Pope Francis has changed the traditional practice of washing the feet of twelve men, representing the twelve apostles. On the first Holy Thursday after his election, Pope Francis washed the feet of twelve young people, two of them women and two Muslims. In January 2016, Pope Francis issued a decree revising the rules of the traditional foot-washing saying that the rite should no longer be restricted to men but should also include women and young girls. Thus, the participants in the ceremony should include the entire community. Since it is an official decree, the clergy is bound by it from now on. Accordingly, bishop of Mangaluru diocese Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza at Rosario Cathedral and bishop of Udupi diocese Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo at Milagres Cathedral, Kallianpur washed the feet of women disciples too.
Mangaluru Diocese
Udupi Diocese