This Is How You Are To Eat It

I first fell in love with the mass when I began going to daily mass with my two little ones about 17 years ago. I noticed another mom going to mass during the week with her children and it opened my eyes to seeing the beauty in bringing little children to mass. Throughout the years, the Lord has shown me how to truly pray at mass. He has shown me that the mass is a great gift because it equips us spiritually for every moment of our lives. Staying close to the Church in this way, through frequenting the Sacraments, is the means by which we are able to live a sacramental life in the world.

Today is Holy Thursday where we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. It is the mass of all masses. It is the commemoration of the last supper, which is celebrated at every mass, but is remembered in a special way today at the start of the Easter Triduum. My love for the mass rises to new heights on this day. There is such joy, but also such sorrow that burns in my heart.

As I was praying with the readings this morning, in the first reading from Exodus, a theme came forth that has shed light on yet another gift of the mass. The Lord gave Moses the specific plans for the Passover meal with all of the details on the lamb, how to prepare it, and also how to eat it. It says, “This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight” (Exodus 12:11). I wondered if there was something more there that even us Catholics today could take away from this command because the Passover meal of the New Covenant is the mass. At every mass we partake of the Lord Himself, the Pascal Lamb of God. In relating these two, the Passover meal as a prefiguration of the Holy Eucharist, then “how are we to eat of it” has meaning for us today.

There are three ways in which the Israelites are told to eat the Passover meal that we can learn from today in how we partake of the Holy Eucharist at mass. The first is with our loins girt. This is not a phrase we hear today, but it means to be ready for the challenges that lie ahead. To partake of the Eucharist at mass is in this manner means we must eat in faith. We must be ready in faith to go out from mass to our daily lives ready for whatever is to come. Jesus never promised that our life would be easy, but He did promise that He would never abandon us. This truth is the grounding of our faith and it is what sustains us along the way through trials and suffering. The Holy Eucharist is what strengthens our faith and with this perspective we remember that this incredible gift becomes our confidence in the Lord.

The second way the Lord tells the Israelites to eat the Passover meal is with sandals on their feet. There is a lot of meaning around this, but one I’d like to point out is that the feet, and especially the feet with sandals (or shoes) on, represents a Divine commissioning. To partake in the Holy Eucharist with “sandals on our feet” is to receive with the purpose of being sent out on our particular mission. The mass is where we receive what the Lord is calling us to at this point of our lives, so that we will go out from the mass renewed in hope. The mass and the Holy Eucharist are the hope of the world. When we receive the Eucharist in hope, we are renewed and sustained in the mission the Lord has called us to.

The third way to eat the Passover meal is with staff in your hand. The staff is used by a shepherd in many ways. It is the main tool that the shepherd needs when out in the pasture with his sheep. For the Lord to ask the Israelites to eat with staff in hand, was essentially to remind them that He will go before them to lead the way and keep them safe from harm. The staff was what Moses used to perform the miracles of God which ultimately saved them from slavery. It was also used to perform the many miracles that sustained the Israelites for 40 years in the desert. To partake of the Holy Eucharist with “staff in hand” is to receive remembering that the Good Shepherd will lead us and sustain us along the way.

So as we head into the Easter Triduum, beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, let us consider these three ways in which we shall partake of the Holy Eucharist at mass: with confidence and readiness for the challenges that lie ahead, receiving our Divine commissioning and being renewed in our mission, and remembering that the Lord will always be with us. Have a blessed Easter Triddum!

Image: Pesach supper at the Lord’s Passover by Leopold Bruckner