Collect for Maundy Thursday
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Maundy Thursday Mikvah
Maundy Thursday is a day of ritualistic washing. Jesus reminded Peter that if we have bathed, then we are clean, except for our feet that have been walking through the dirt and grime of the world around us. Peter, like many of us, lets his self-centered, self-serving ways loose and says, “Wash me all over.” Peter wants a full bath; he wants it all! Peter is speaking of the temporal; Jesus is speaking of the spiritual. Peter is speaking of the ritualistic washing of a bath. Jesus is speaking of the ritualistic bath of a Baptism.
Jesus never loses sight of his Baptism. Jesus never loses sight of who he is and what he is called to be and to do. This night, this most holy night, Jesus knows that he will be betrayed by one of his closest colleagues. Jesus knows that it is this night that the Holy will be covered and betrayed by the dirt and grime of this world. Jesus knows that it is this night, that ritualistic cleansing of washing the feet of his disciples, including the one that is to betray him, will merely foreshadow the spiritual cleansing that is yet to come.
Have you bathed? No, not in the running water that most of the municipalities provide for us that is treated with fluoride and chloride and other chemicals that will preserve your body. Have you bathed with the Baptismal water that is running full of the Holy Spirit. The same Living Water that Jesus offered to the woman at the well, he has offered to you and to me and if we have received it, we are clean! Have you bathed in the Living Water that preserves not your body, but your soul?
This night, as we go through the ritualistic reenactment of the institution of the “Cena Domini”, the Supper of the Lord, the ritualistic reenactment of the Jesus washing our feet, the ritualistic reenactment of striping away every piece of beautiful dirt and grime from the altars and sanctuaries that divert our attention from the basic reasons that we gather to worship, remember, for the ritualistic cleansing by our Father in Heaven. You are preparing to bathe in the Living Water of Jesus Christ. Remember to strip away all of the walls, all of the layers, all of the ritualistic barriers that we place between our Savior and us so that we might see and acknowledge that God sees us for who we are: broken, fallen, loved, and forgiven. And then, we might see Jesus for who he is: the Son of God, denied, broken, crucified for you and for me.
The Rev. Kenny Miller, Rector
St. Boniface Episcopal Church
www.saintbonifacechurch.com
frkenny.blogspot.com
www.frkennymiller.com 
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