I attended our parish’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper tonight and, as always, it was especially beautiful and reverent.  During the reading of the Gospel (Jn 13:1-15), I envisioned myself in the scene, sitting around the supper table with Jesus and the Apostles.  Nobody seemed to notice a fourteenth person there.  When Jesus washed the feet of his Apostles, I recalled the first time I had my feet washed by our priest as he performed the Mandatum Rite, and what a humbling experience that was for me.

Then during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, as our pastor held aloft the Body of Christ, my mind drifted.  (I know that’s not supposed to happen, but it did).  My thoughts turned to a disagreement my wife and I often have.  We both like to read, and she frequently flips to the last chapter, spoiling the story by learning how it turns out.  Me, well, you couldn’t pay me ten bucks to cheat.  I delight in seeing the story unravel.  I want to be surprised, and I certainly don’t want her to spoil the story for me by telling me how it ends before I’ve read the book.

And then it dawned on me that I was the only one sitting at that supper table who knew what was to come in just a few hours.  I knew that Judas the Iscariot would soon leave to go bargain for his thirty pieces of silver in return for his betrayal of Jesus.  I knew Jesus would soon be arrested and tried, and of the pain he would endure being tortured and crucified, and I knew our beloved teacher would die.  I could see all these horrendous events.  

But, I also knew the happy ending: that Jesus would be lifted up after three days, that His resurrected self would join and encourage His friends in the upper room, and that at Pentecost, He would ascend into heaven.  

But I couldn’t tell any of this to the other twelve reclining at table there with me.  And I wondered if, through some twist of time and it was even possible for me to tell them, would they be like me and not care to know how it all plays out, or would they be like my wife and want to know what the future held in store?

I’ve been mulling this conundrum for the last couple hours.  I’ve decided this is one case in which I’m glad I know the story has a happy ending.  It gives me hope, takes away my fears, and makes me want to give a spoiler alert to the whole world!  

How about you?  Won’t you join me?

“My dear Jesus, You know and I know what You’re about to experience.  At every Mass, I am filled with both tears of joy and sadness as I reflect on Your Passion.  I know You gave it all for me…sinful me.  I am so deeply grateful for Your love.  Thank you!  Amen.”

(The Lord’s Supper, was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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