A Prayer for Love and Unity
Maundy Thursday:
AM Psalm 102 • PM Psalm 142, 143
Jer. 20:7-11 • 1 Cor. 10:14-17, 11:27-32 • John 17:1-11(12-26)
Today is Maundy Thursday, and while it’s not listed in the readings for the Daily Office, let’s take a moment to recall the verse from John’s gospel that gives its name to the solemn ritual we observe this evening. John 13:34 reads as follows: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus speaks this sentence to the disciples at his final Passover meal, at which he institutes the act of communion and then washes the disciples’ feet, the latter a consummate act of humility and love. The word “maundy” derives from the Latin mandatum, or “commandment,” the first word of an ancient Latin hymn derived from John 13:34 and sung on this day in medieval churches.
This is not to say that the sense and sentiment of Maundy Thursday are lacking in today’s passage from the gospel. In Chapter 17, John depicts Jesus moving from signaling his imminent departure from earthly life and instructing (i.e., “commanding”) the disciples on how to proceed to praying for himself, for the disciples, and for all believers. In that last prayer, Jesus pleads for a unity that will bind the Holy Father, the disciples, and the faithful in one body: “I will remain in the world no longer, but you are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, that name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (verse 11).
I hope we can all see that what we do this evening is a bodily manifestation, not only of the love and humility that Jesus showed the world but also of our unity as the essence of our faith. Ponder these lovely lyrics, written by G.W. Bridges, of the third verse of Hymn 306, which the choir sang as the communion hymn during Lent: “One body we, one body who partake, one church united in communion blest; one name we bear, one bread of life we break, with all thy saints on earth and saints at rest.”
Written by David Jolliffe
At St. Paul’s, David sings in the choir, helps to coordinate the Morning Reflections, and assists with food distribution to public housing projects in Fayetteville.