Thirty-eight: Mandatum

"In each of our lives Jesus comes as the Bread of Life - to be eaten, to be consumed by us. This is how He loves us. Then Jesus comes in our human life as the hungry one, the other, hoping to be fed with the Bread of our life, our hearts by loving, and our hands by serving. In loving and serving, we prove that we have been created in the likeness of God, for God is Love and when we love we are like God." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta

It's Maundy Thursday, a day when we reflect on Jesus' celebration of the Passover meal with his disciples; when He made a New Covenant - a covenant of Love. Maundy, from the Latin mandatum: a command, a mandate of Love. He doesn't tell us to just love God, he tells us to love on another- requires us to love one another. 

This is not a Hebrew Scriptures commandment of "do not." It is a new commandment - one of action.  Just as Jesus loved and served others during his lifetime, he compels us to do the same. Just as Jesus comes to us in the Bread and the Wine, he expects us to feed others with the Bread of our lives. 

What is the Bread of your life? 

As I kneel at the Communion rail after receiving the Body of Christ, I pray.
"Thank you..."
then
"Please help me to..."

It was just upon reading the above quote from Mother Teresa that I realized that what I've been praying has been:
"Thank you...for the Bread of Life."
then
"Please help me to...better feed others with the Bread of my life."

Or...
"Thank you for Love."
and
"Please help me to better Love others."

That's what it all boils down to, really. That's what life boils down to.
Love. 

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Forty Days In Thought, Word, and Deed