Reminder: “Praying Through Holy Week” is our invitation to a lifestyle of prayer that prepares us for Easter.
During Holy Week Prayer Exercise 1, we reflected on humility, the “freedom from arrogance recognizing all we have and are comes from God.” During Holy Week Prayer Exercise 2, we follow Jesus in expressing love toward others through a humble life.
Holy Week Prayer Exercise #2 – Jesus with His People
The Christian calendar recognizes the Thursday before Easter as “Maundy” Thursday. Read more about “Maundy” Thursday and the end of this exercise.
Today, we reflect on Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples. (Matthew 26:20-29, Mark 14:17-25, Luke 22:14-22, John 13:3-35)
Love transforms even common settings into divine encounters with Jesus. Knowing He would soon return to His Father, Jesus loved His men by serving them. Loving and serving His men became the foundation of love that motivates us to love each other today.
Read John 13:3-15, 33-35 Imagine yourself in the room with the disciples. How do I respond to the love that Jesus wants to pour out on me?
▪ During the meal: Do I spend quality time with Jesus, learning what is important to Him?
▪ Receiving Jesus’s love and attention: Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, even Judas, who would betray Him. Other disciples would soon withdraw and turn away from Him. Would you receive Jesus’s love by allowing Him to wash your feet?
Read Luke 22:14-22
▪ Sharing Communion: Jesus shares tender moments with us as we recognize the price He paid by giving His life to rescue us from sin. Do I remember His sacrifice with thanksgiving? Do I honor all that He gave by loving Him and others?
▪ Betrayal: Jesus says someone will betray Him. Ask yourself the question, “Is it I?” – What are the ways that I betray Jesus by thoughts, actions, or deeds?
▪ Loving Each Other: (John 13:34-35) Jesus’s final words are a new commandment to love each other. Do I follow Jesus’ example in loving others? Do I keep others from knowing Jesus by not loving others?
Review your answers. Praise God where you are doing well. Confess/ask forgiveness where you fall short. Ask God’s help where you need to grow.
After prayer, reflect:
• How is God leading me to respond to what he revealed to me during prayer?
May Jesus’s love motivate us to love Him and love others during Holy Week!
Click on this link to register to receive Holy Week Prayer Exercise #3. http://eepurl.com/goj9xn
“Maundy” Thursday is an alternate name for Holy Thursday, the first of the three days of solemn remembrance of the events leading up to and immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus.
“Maundy” Thursday takes its name from the Latin word for “commandment,” (mandatum) as we remember when Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another.”
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday represent the Paschal Triduum, the last 3 days of Holy Week.