April 6, 2023
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”
– Jesus at the Last Supper
On Holy Thursday, Jesus knew he was about to enter into his Passion and Death when he gathered his apostles in the upper room for their last Passover meal together. But it was much more. For the first time, he called them “friends.” He washed their feet — even against Peter’s wishes —and he told them the greatest among them were called to serve others. Most importantly, he blessed the bread and wine that was to become his Body and his Blood, a gift to all of us until the end of time.
As the evangelist Luke wrote in his Gospel of that Last Supper:
“When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.”
Jesus had tried to prepare them for his imminent death, but they didn’t believe it possible since they had come to believe he was the Chosen One, the Messiah.
In his final words to them, he said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” And those words apply equally to all of us today, especially those enduring the suffering associated with grief. Yes, despite seemingly insurmountable pain, his message is … there is hope.