Homily Wednesday of Holy Week (Mt. 26:14-25) “No Way Out”
Homily Wednesday of Holy Week (Mt. 26:14-25) “No Way Out”
The setting for the Last Supper was the Passover meal. We might think that such a meal was a formal affair with a set script, but it was hardly like the liturgies we have today. The Passover meal did have a menu that was followed every year. There were certain points of the meal where there were some rituals, but during the rest of the meal it might be like any other meal.
The setting would have also looked much different than we might imagine. Leonardo DaVinci’s painting would not be very representative of what the Last Supper was like. The disciples would have laid around a table on their sides. The table would have been a horseshoe shape probably a few inches off the floor. Cushions would have been spread around for them to lean on. The disciples would have all been on the outside of the table.
The nearest thing I experienced to this was a meal I had in a monastery in Rome one time. The monks all sat around the wall of the room with the table in front of them. Everyone faced the center. The Abbot had the place of honor on one side of the room and the monks by order of seniority sat to his right and left. The food was served from the middle of the room.
With this sort of arrangement, Jesus would have been able to see the faces of all the apostles as they sat around the table and they would have seen each other. All of them would have heard the exchange Jesus had with Judas. What must he have felt when he was exposed in front of the disciples in the room?
He was caught. There was no turning back. He had taken the bribe from the leaders of Jerusalem. He was exposed as a traitor in front of the apostles. His scheming had led to his being trapped. When it was over, Judas did not have a friend. No wonder he took the course of action he did and ended up in total despair.
Reflection Questions:
- Am I surprised at what the Last Supper was really like? What misconceptions did I have?
- Could Judas have backed away from his plan? What would the ramifications have been? Can I understand why he went forward?
Dear Parishioners,
Remember that we will be having the Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Holy Saturday services livestreamed. We also will be having the 9 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass live streamed. Communion will be distributed in the parking lot after all these services except the Holy Saturday liturgy.
Next week we will be starting to have a 6:30 a.m. Mass on Thursdays every week for the rest of the school year. The school will be starting to have their Mass on Thursdays at 8:15 rather than at 11:15 a.m. If you do not want to attend the school Mass, we would invite you to the 6:30 a.m. Mass. There will be some places at the school Mass for parishioners so we will try to accommodate everyone we can.
The reason for this change is that Seton School will be going back to a full day schedule. I appreciate everyone’s understanding as we try to get back to normal schedule. Let’s pray that this all goes well.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark