And now the Watch begins.  We have left the Upper Room and are with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He says to us what he said to Peter, James and John, “Stay here and watch (stay awake) with me” (Matthew 26:38).  We watch in reparation for his agony and betrayal, for the sins of humankind, not least our own, which were the cause of his unimaginable suffering.  And we ponder on the mystery of the suffering Christ, so poignantly expressed in St Mark’s Gospel, “He was seized by horror and distress” (14:33) (1) and he prayed, “Abba, Father; for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want” (NRSV, 14:36).  And we stay in stillness, simply being with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on the altar of repose, as a sign of our loyalty and love and gratitude for all he has done and suffered for us.

Reference

1. Zerwick, M. and Grosvenor, M. (1988) A grammatical analysis of the Greek New Testament (3rd edition), Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

Note

For Common Worship material for Maundy Thursday, see http://www.churchofengland.org/media/41156/tspashw.pdf

Short talks

Short talks entitled The Lord’s Body and The Last Supper: its meaning are available in this section of the Holy Faith website.  The following talks are suitable for children: The Crucifixion and the Eucharist and The Blessed Sacrament.