Holy Thursday

Feel kind of down today but what to post something for the last supper, so here's some of what I've posted before .....

Here's a photo of Jesus and Judas at the last supper, from Jesus of Nazareth ...



Here's a poem by R.M. Rilke The Last Supper ...

They are assembled, astonished and disturbed
round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,
and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,
leaving and passing by them like a stranger.
The loneliness of old comes over him
which helped mature him for his deepest acts;
now will he once again walk through the olive grove,
and those who love him still will flee before his sight.
To this last supper he has summoned them,
and (like a shot that scatters birds from trees)
their hands draw back from reaching for the loaves
upon his word: they fly across to him;
they flutter, frightened, round the supper table
searching for an escape. But he is present
everywhere like an all-pervading twilight-hour.

Here's a painting of the last supper by Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret ...



You can read James Alison's past Holy Week sermons here.

Here's a video with scenes from the last supper set to Matt Maher's song Remembrance ....



And this was my post from last year ......

This week of Creighton University's online spiritual exercises retreat (week 27) is about the last supper. We're asked to imaginatively contemplate the scene with ourselves as part of it, there with Jesus and the disciples when he washes our feet, passes us the bread and wine, tells us that one of us will betray him and that he will perish.

I find this contemplation hard because I feel guilty (one of us betrays him) and angry (he's going away from us) and depressed (he's going away through torture and death)

I pretty much like the version of this scene in the movie Jesus. It takes place in two parts, actually: the first part happens two days before Passover, when all are sharing a meal (women as well as men) ..... Judas tries to convince Jesus to lead the zealots in a coup against the Romans, to which Jesus responds by telling everyone that he's going to be killed. Peter, as usual, tries to talk him out of it, but this version also has Jesus' mother rejecting the idea of his death as well. He gives the explanation that it must happen because it's God's will (hate that idea) but later, when Jesus is alone with his very upset mother, she asks why he "has to" die and he elaborates.

Start watching the video at 1:17 into it until 4:40 ......



The second part, the actual Passover meal/last supper, is pretty short and has Jesus handing around the broken bread and the wine to the disciples (no women present, sadly), and telling them that one of them will betray him, and then bidding Judas to go do what he has to do ... interesting that he sends Judas off after he's asked him to eat the bread and drink the wine.

Begin watching the video 18 seconds into it until 4:33 ....