Entries by Abbot David

The Assumption – 2026

20 August 2026in /by

16th August 2026 – 

The Gospel reading for this celebration is a reminder of that unique closeness between Mary and Jesus. She makes her way to her cousin Elizabeth; Mary is carrying within her the Saviour of the world; she is “blessed among all women” because she is “the Mother of the Lord”. However, there is more to it than that. Elizabeth goes on to proclaim that Mary is blessed because she believes. Mary’s closeness to Jesus stems not solely from her physical motherhood, that is from the fact that he is dependent upon her as is any unborn child upon its mother, but Mary’s closeness is also to do with her faith.

It is her faith that makes her the Lord’s first disciple; even though that faith was fiercely tested, even though it led her to accompany her Son to Calvary – to his painful death, she remained steadfast. As she was with him at the start of his earthly career so she was with him at the end.

Did not Jesus promise his followers: “Where I am, there also you will be.” His Ascension into heaven opened the way for her Assumption. Where Christ has gone before us, there Mary is now, sharing the Divine Life. Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s greeting, which we call the Magnificat, begins “‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,” is a thanksgiving for a share in the life of God. For the Assumption, the event we celebrate today, is not Mary’s personal achievement but a gift of God: “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name..”

The Magnificat is also our song of thanksgiving. The Assumption is more than a piece of personal information about Mary: it is a startling affirmation about us all. Mary is the icon or image of the Church; she stands as a sign of God’s power to give life to those who believe through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Saint Paul speaks of Christian hope, that as Jesus in his humanity was raised to a new, glorious existence, so we who are members of his body, the Church, will share in a similar glory. The Assumption means that Mary already participates fully in that glory. And so in contemplating her we discover what God has in store for us all.

In Mary we see the meaning of salvation; God saves people, and people are more than physical bodies. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary asserts the triumphant value of the human person and indeed of the human body over the evils inflicted on it. The human body is so often and so grossly degraded: by its abuse through the drug culture, by the exploitation and degradation of human sexuality, and by the pleasure seeking culture in which we live, in which the body is made to dominate the spirit, but also by the mass murder and mutilation of men, women and children by crazed and evil individuals, groups and societies. The teaching of the Church concerning the Assumption of Mary presents a very different and optimistic vision of humanity. Every human person is loved by God and is destined to share fully in the victory of the Risen Christ. Through the power of grace every one of us can become what Christ is through his divine nature.

Feast of St. Benedict – 2026

20 August 2026in /by

11th July 2026 – 
 
The political and economic state of Europe is never out of the news. Politicians, bureaucrats and bankers will determine the immediate future of the European States. Treaties and agreements of one sort or another, have come and gone in the past, some are remembered, most are forgotten.  Generals too, have had a try at shaping Europe – sometimes by prolonged and bloody wars – their methods can only last a few generations, for it is only an imposed solution.  But it has been said that if one had to choose one figure who most shaped Europe it would be Benedict of Nursia. Saint Benedict is remembered by the Universal Church on this day – with the title of Patron of Europe.
 
When Europe seemed to be descending into darkness after the fall of the Roman Empire, Benedict’s Rule brought the light of a new dawn.  Simply put it offered Peace and Stability.  Benedict’s vision created a civilized society where the ordered daily rhythm of prayer and constructive, community based endeavours conquered the deadly infections that circulated in the society of his time. And more than that, the monasteries that followed Benedict’s Rule were like the seeds of a new plant – they were planted in the soil of Europe and they took root.  Through them the Kingdom of God spread.  
 
The life of monks and nuns highlights and emphasises those things that are essential for all Christian life. Monks and nuns are not necessarily any better than other Christians, but because of their public commitment to a Christian way of life in a community, they are a reminder of those promises made by all Christians through Baptism and Confirmation, which creates the community which is the Body of Christ. The lives of monks are centred around prayer and the service to others – these are the elements that unite all of us to God and to each other.  This form of unity, centred on our Creator, leads to the Peace that Christ offers. Let us then, as Saint Benedict says in his Rule for Monks, prefer nothing whatever to Christ that He may bring us to life everlasting!
 
Biddings:
Let us pray for the whole Church, that by its life of prayer and the work of service it may be a living sign of the love of God in our world.
 
Let us pray that we may continue to hold firm to the faith of those who helped spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of Europe. May we always find ways to assist those who are in spiritual or material need.
 
Let us pray for all those who are outcasts in our society, that they may find in us hospitality and compassion.
 
Let us pray for all those who have died recently, especially Ann Widdecome. May their faith carry them into the arms of our Risen Lord where they shall enjoy the true life of justice and truth and where love peace reigns.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

24 June 2026in /by

21st June 2026 – 

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Matthew 10:26-33

The gospels tell us that Jesus refused to ignore sinners. Indeed, he was often seen in company with them: prostitutes, who sold their bodies; or tax collectors who stole from the people. He knew what they were up to; he didn’t agree with their behaviour, but he didn’t reject them. Nor was he scandalised by victims, those whom the world might call losers. These were all the literal and metaphorical lepers who were shunned by society, sometimes even for reasons that appeared religious. Jesus associated with such victims.

Jesus wasn’t offended or disgusted by any of these people. So, as a result, some people were outraged and affronted by him. These were the authorities, who might be termed the ‘good people’. They resented very much his refusal to be offended. For their world depended on some people being dismissed as useless, so that others could enjoy advantages. By acting in this way, besides doing harm to others, they did harm to themselves: they cut themselves off from the grace of God.

Jesus was not affronted by sinners and victims. More than that, Jesus was not even upset with the cruel or unjust people. He knew what they were doing. He publicly criticised it, but he was not shocked or surprised. He recognised that, like their victims, these victimisers lacked freedom. Their power, their position, their pride may have kept them ignorant, but they were enslaved by their own injustice. We know that the religious authorities of Jesus time were so outraged by Him that they launched a conspiracy that brought Jesus to his death – and to resurrection.

What about Jesus’ disciples – those first followers of his and what about us? Jesus invites us not to be offended or put off by anyone. But he warns us that by living in this way, we will offend other people. So Jesus is asking a lot of us. We are not to be either victim or victimiser. The lives of victims and victimisers involve fear. They certainly fear their enemies but for different reasons. Jesus tells us not have enemies. If others see us as their enemy, that is in fact their problem, but we are not to treat them as enemies, or as effective threats. We are not to play a part in this world’s ways. We must not let others define who we are. Christians must accept the identity that comes to us from God. We are his children, and we are of infinite value. And whether or not they know it, this identity is available to everyone else as well.

To accept Christ’s way we have to die to the old way, governed as it is by immoral behaviour and fear and death. We are to live, through baptism, in a way that is turned towards God, who sees us as his children, who gives us the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life. To some, this way of life, with its humility and demands for forgiveness, sounds impossible. Others imagine it as unbearably weak. But humility means being honest and truthful – before God, each other and with ourselves. Forgiveness means we refuse to be imprisoned in the scandals of this world. Christians must refuse to be remade by the evil done to us. We accept instead our identity from God, showing and demonstrating the divine image and likeness by our freedom not to be scandalised. It is, therefore, our privilege to receive the gift of Divine grace – which makes us strong. This is what makes us a people who are not afraid.

 

Corpus Christi – 2026

8 June 2026in /by

7th June 2026 – 

Human beings have got to know the living, loving God through the unfolding of the revelation of the three persons of the Trinity. For each one of us however Jesus Christ, is the one person of the Trinity we will focus on most. He was a human being – and yet by what he did we have come to know that he is Divine as well. Saint John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. In the Creed we say that the Lord Jesus Christ, God from God and Light from Light, for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

Like every event the birth of Jesus was an moment in history and it has a time and place. It was when Augustus was Emperor in Rome. The place was the town called Bethlehem. While there Mary gave birth to a son and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Shepherds came and glorified and praised God for all they heard and saw. Wise men came – they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Every year we see a depiction of that scene in our churches. We see the manger and the baby Jesus. Because of what Jesus did – namely his resurrection – the Christian faith teaches that in the manger in Bethlehem, present in this material world as a collection of atoms and molecules like each one of us, lay the Divine Word as a little baby.

The Divine Word, with the Holy Spirit and some material of this world, are the three components that make the Incarnation possible, this is what we celebrate at Christmas every year. These three components are present in every Mass. The material of this world is bread and wine, the Holy Spirit is called upon by the words and actions of the priest and the Divine Word is made really present on the altar. We eat the consecrated bread and drink the consecrated wine and as St Augustine said “if we eat worthily we become what we eat” Sermons, [227]. Thus by what happens at the altar and by our Holy Communion, Jesus the Word, actually continues to have human flesh and human blood in every age. As we eat Christ’s Body and drink His Blood we become by God’s grace what Christ is by nature. And to paraphrase St Athanasius, God became flesh and blood so that our flesh and blood may be raised up to Divinity. (De Inc 54.3) God wants us to share His life – the life of the Trinity – and we have this real life by being united with Jesus – by being one with him.

In the last few years we have heard of many cases in Africa and in the Middle East of Christians massacred in their churches, short or burned alive. They knew well the dangers of proclaiming their faith by gathering together. Yet today in our sort of society many are indifferent to the presence of Christ through the sacraments and in our communities. However, for over two thousand years Catholics have risked their lives just to be at Mass. Great Cathedrals and churches have been built because of what happens inside at Holy Mass. Millions throughout the world will today bear witness in Corpus Christi celebrations because of what happens at Mass. What do you and all those people understand is happening at Mass? The shepherds and wise men saw something amazing lying in the manger. In this church is something corresponding to that manger, it is the altar behind me, from there we can be united to something quite astonishing. If you are not seeing it with your mind’s eye you are missing something truly amazing.

Trinity Sunday– 2026

8 June 2026in /by

31st May 2026 – 

All Christians have a favourite image of God. When I was a boy many people had a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The picture and statue of the Sacred Heart consoled people and reminded them of God’s love and compassion. Often at a funeral, the image is that of Christ the Good Shepherd. Christ is our guardian and protector, especially as a person leaves the familiarity of this life. Different images help people to understand God at different times and in different ways.

Christian faith, however, takes us on a journey. Just as we develop and mature from child to adult, so as disciples of Christ we should be on a pilgrimage that allows us to grow in faith. As we progress in the Christian life our faith changes. Our understanding of matters spiritual and the way these affect our lives often causes us to let go of inadequate images of God and discover new ones. Asking ourselves which images of God are our favourites and why, may help us better understand the nature of our relationship with God. Clement of Alexandria, who lived in the third century AD, spoke of God as Father and Mother – Father as Creator and Mother as Compassion. For some people feminine images of God do help them understand the depth of God’s love for us.

The mystery of the Divine – of God, and the mystery of the human person are bound together, since each woman and man is created in the “image and likeness of God”. If we find it difficult to understand God, it is, of course, equally difficult to understand another person. How do we come to some sort of understanding of other human beings? Surely it is through ties of friendship and love. When two people really can say they love each other, they come to a place in their lives when if seems as if they even think each other’s thoughts. Saint John tells us God is love, therefore the key to understanding God is a loving relationship with him. Such a relationship is the basis of faith.

Of course we have to have an idea of what love is in the way that God is love. Through Jesus Christ we are given such an idea. Through Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, this fundamental idea is communicated to us. This divine idea is created anew in each human being. We know of its presence because it drives every human being to seek what is good. Sadly, when that urge turns in on itself we identify it as evil. Sinfulness leads us away from the goodness of God and so damages our relationships – whether human or divine.

Our journey to our proper fulfilment as human beings needs the action of God’s power. It is not possible alone. This action of God is his free gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus we see the perfect revelation of God’s love. By being one with Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we come to a share in God our Father’s life. The revelation of the Trinity allows us to grasp the wonder of our destiny. It allows us to see, through a fellow human being, Jesus of Nazareth, the true nature of love. Through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit we are able to grow in that sacrificial love revealed by Jesus Christ and be clothed in the mantle of divinity ourselves.

Pentecost Sunday– 2026

8 June 2026in /by

24th May 2026 – 

The disciples were rather slow to understand what Jesus’ ministry was really all about.
That they did not always grasp – either the implications or the importance of Christ’s teaching in their ordinary lives is in fact rather reassuring. This did not make them stupid or unspiritual, it meant they were just like a lot of human beings. A good number of people are like the disciples, that is, like the disciples before the experience of Pentecost!

People who knew him, or heard him preach, and even saw the miracles he worked, thought Jesus was nothing more than a special Teacher in Israel or a great prophet, though the various signs and wonders must have had an effect when they were witnessed. And remember all the apostles even deserted Jesus at some time during his trial and passion.

When human beings experience events that might consider abnormal, it is more than likely they were explained away in some way, just as any of us might do if confronted with an incredible happening. Think of Virgin Births, Wise Men and strangely moving stars, water changed into wine, a man who walked on water, the sick made well, the dumb speaking and the blind seeing. As those actions are described it is easier for us to seek some sort of rational explanation, or just dismiss them.

What made the difference was the experience of the resurrection. After the resurrection there occurred a hesitant but significant shift in the disciples thinking, and this had not been fully grasped when Jesus ascended to heaven, but from that day onwards they lived with increased hope. And what were they hoping for? Jesus had told them he would sent them the Holy Spirit who would help them understand the Truth. Ten days later they knew what Jesus meant for: “Suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting”. The ‘Breath of God’ breathed new life into them. It was a mind-blowing experience, and they felt as if their minds were on fire. They made connections and understood at that moment the wonder and magnificence of God’s gift to humanity, a share in the Divine Life.

Jesus proclaimed the presence of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God which is actually in us. It is made present by the Holy Spirit at work in our minds and hearts, helping us to grow into fully mature human beings, becoming like Christ Jesus. Without the Spirit a human being is lost in a maze of disconnected thoughts, of easily manipulated feelings, and of destructive behaviour. We can know if the Spirit is in us by looking for the evidence in our lives. Saint Paul says “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). These are not simply the gifts of grace that come from the Holy Spirit but the signs of its action, and they are the basis of our ability to make judgements, to discern what is true, just and compassionate. And so if we do not invite the Spirit into our lives we cannot live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. If we do not strive to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God now, we shall not live as citizens of God’s Kingdom when we die.

Easter Sunday– 2026

13 April 2026in /by

5th April 2026 – 

The Resurrection is the foundation of the Christian’s faith. Yet what does it mean? The Resurrection did not mean that Jesus’ mortal life had been prolonged. His life after Resurrection was different from the life he had lived before. The Gospels make it clear that Jesus was no longer subject to the limitations that this life places upon us – and indeed placed on him, too, before his resurrection. The Gospels, however, very definitely emphasise the physical character of his appearances. His disciples recognised his voice, they touched him, they shared meals with him. Equally the Gospels do not shy away from telling us that Jesus could enter rooms where the doors were shut. He could appear suddenly and just as suddenly disappear. They knew, as much as we do, that knowledge of the workings of this world meant that this was implausible. Yet they did not shy away from recording what they experienced.

When reflecting on the various appearances of Jesus, it is worth asking the question, to whom did the risen Jesus appear? Or to put the question another way, to whom might we expect him to appear? Certainly he had a wonderful opportunity to dispel all doubts about the truth of his resurrection. Jesus might have turned up at a meeting of the Jewish Temple authorities and forced them by the pure evidence of his presence to accept the fact that a man whom they knew for certain had died was now, beyond any shadow of a doubt, alive. An even better idea, why didn’t he appear to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome? He could have ordered the emperor to proclaim the gospel throughout the empire. Think of how much easier things would have been, if Jesus had done this. All those bloody martyrdoms would have been spared. Peter would not have had to die upside down on a cross. Paul would not have had his head chopped off outside the city of Rome. And so many others would not have been thrown to wild beasts in the Roman Coliseum or been burnt alive for the outlandish amusement of the crowd.

Non-believers would have been overwhelmed by the evidence. They would be compelled to become believers. Yet these are precisely the kinds of things that Jesus did not do. He appeared only to his chosen disciples. We read in the Acts of the Apostles an intriguing statement that calls for serious reflection, if we are to understand the meaning of the Resurrection. Peter goes to Caesarea, to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who was interested in hearing more about Jesus. Peter preaches what was clearly the proclamation of the early disciples of Jesus. He says: “Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by handing him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses, we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 10:38-41).

The key point is that Jesus appeared, not to all the people, but to those who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate with him after he rose from the dead. Evidently the risen Jesus was seen only by those who were linked to him by some bond of love and friendship. Those who did not know him and those who opposed him during his mortal life never got to see him as the Risen Lord.

St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica III, q. 55, art. 2, ad 1) says that Jesus’ disciples Were able to see him because of the eyes of faith.” The disciples may have lost hope after Jesus he died, but they never lost their love and friendship for him. And it was this loving friendship, which is at the core of faith, which gave them the ability to recognise him, when others could not.

The mortal Jesus, the Jesus before his death, could have been experienced as a fact of physical, scientific data; the risen Jesus, however, could only be experienced by faith. For resurrection is not returning from the dead. It is something beyond death to an entirely different kind of existence. Such a leap cannot be verified by ordinary experience. There is always that element of the Resurrection that cannot be explained: Jesus is no longer as he was, he is still who he was. He is the same Jesus. he even carries the wounds of his passion on his body, yet he is somehow different. This means that the Resurrection cannot be proved. It is a matter of faith.

Because Jesus, as a man, entered into an entirely new kind of existence, an immortal existence, the human story is no longer birth, life, death, corruption. It has become birth, life, death and eternal life. The message of the Resurrection is that the body matters. These bodies of ours, with weak hearts, poor eyesight and hearing, arthritic joints and all the other illnesses we endure, are going to be transformed. They’re going to be glorified. For CHRIST HAS RISEN! Easter is not just a happy ending to Jesus’ story. It is a radical new beginning for the human race. Easter means that what is mortal becomes what is eternal. Easter is the gateway into the Divine Life -the hall marks of this life are justice and mercy, truth and joy, peace and kindness, summed up by Saint John in one word – love.

Easter Vigil – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

3rd April 2026 – 

This is the night. The night that reveals the foundation of our faith. The Paschal candle, the sign of Christ’s resurrection, burns steady, passing its flame of faith from hand to hand.

We have listened to the old stories – creation out of chaos, Abraham’s knife held back, Pharaoh’s army swallowed by the sea. Each one tells us the same thing: God doesn’t leave us in the murky depths. He parts waters, stops the hand raised to kill, speaks light into the dark void. And tonight, all that history points to one tomb. In Matthew’s forceful telling, two women come at first light – Mary Magdalene and the other Mary – carrying spices, hearts heavy. They expect a heavy stone sealing the tomb. They expect silence. But instead, an earthquake, and an angel who tells them: “Do not be afraid.”

The stone is rolled away. Not by human, but divine power. The guards shake like dead men. And the angel? He sits calmly on that stone, saying, “He is not here. He has risen, as he said.” As he said. Remember? He told us. Now it’s real.

And those women? They run – fear and great joy mixed together. Jesus meets them on the road. Not a ghost. Not a vision. Flesh and blood, saying their names. “Greetings!” He says, as if it were so ordinary, as if death was just a bad dream. They grab his feet. Worship. And he sends them: “Go tell my brothers.” That is us. We who sat in the dark tonight, renewing vows, feeling the water splashed over our heads – buried with him, raised with him, just as St Paul told us in his letter to the Romans. “We were buried with him by baptism into death… so we too might walk in newness of life.” The truth is: our old self – our fear and doubt, is buried tonight.

The candles we hold are lit from the one flame. One light, many lives. One resurrection, shared. And if fear and doubt creep back into our lives, let us remember this night. The stone rolled away, and angels greeting to the women ‘Do not be afraid.’ Christ is risen.

Good Friday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

3rd April 2026 – 

Listening to the account of Jesus’ suffering and death or reading it privately surely opens a window of understanding concerning some common elements in the sufferings of the human race. First Christ prays in the garden of Gethsemane that his expected torture and painful death will be taken from him – the prayer of anguish; it is not granted. Then He turns to His friends – they are asleep – just as in so many ways our friends can be, or we can be, or busy, or away, or preoccupied – not understanding the real need of the one seeking help. Then Jesus faces the priests, the Church of His time – that institution brought into existence by His Father – and it condemns Him. This is also characteristic, for in all religions, in every institution, there is something which sooner or later may work against the very purpose for which it was established. But as the story unfolds there seems to be another chance. Perhaps there is hope in the State; in this case the Roman Empire. Its claim to importance were far lower than those of the Jewish religion and it might properly have been free from local fanaticisms. Indeed that was true – but as it was then so it is now, such freedom is governed by political expediency and the keeping of power. Individuals become mere pieces on the board of a complicated game. Perhaps an appeal could be made to the people. And so they are asked what is to be done with the man Jesus, who is called the Christ. But the poor and simple whom He had blessed, whom he had healed and fed and taught, to whose race He belongs, have become overnight a murderous rabble shouting for His blood. What is left, where is He to turn? He will turn to God. And to God, the Son of God’s last words are “Why have you forsaken me?”

As each part of the Passion story unfolds they are representative of the human situation. These are among the things it means to be human. It seems there is no where to go, every door is slammed just as it is reached, every thread of hope breaks when it is seized. We do not have to look very far to see and hear of tragedies, of mental and bodily sufferings, of cruelties and anguish. Events in Ukraine and Iran have shown how evil, pain and suffering can touch all our lives in some way.

What then is the Christian to think, to say and do if even Jesus cries out to God “Why have you forsaken me?” If the crucifixion was the end we would not be here in any case so this particular problem would be removed – for there would be no Christians. Our hope is in what follows – our faith is belief in the disciples testimony. We pass from Good Friday to Easter Sunday – never forgetting that every man and woman has to live some form of Good Friday. No human being can escape a measure of anxiety, pain or suffering – how each person faces this depends, like everything else, on the preparations made beforehand. The world throws its hands up in horror and seeks someone to blame; and the worldly way often seeks escape in passing pleasures in a desperate effort to avoid depression and the consequences of any real change of heart. The Christian will undergo these temptations, but we hear the voice of Christ saying to us, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me’. The key must surely lie in those words – ‘follow me’. We are asked to follow Christ and so to die to sin – to the immaturity of egotism, to the wilful denial of truth, to the wastefulness of time and resources and to greed. In following Christ we die as we live – we move from the darkness of sin to the light of Truth – and so to a share in the glory and light of the resurrection.

Maundy Thursday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

2nd April 2026 – 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper Jesus the man had to reconcile himself to his immediate future. Though He is the Word of God made flesh He still had to come to terms as a human being with what he knew the Jewish authorities wanted to do with him. “Father if you are willing, take this cup away from me.  Never-the-less, let your will be done, not mine.”  
 
Before this happened, however, He demonstrated the true nature of his Kingdom: that in his world the king was servant, and the one who served was master, because authority is given and exercised as service.  Jesus’ idea of greatness and power lay in serving others and so he washed the disciples feet. Each example that Jesus gave was a preparation for a fuller, deeper demonstration of the lengths he would go.  But we are told He had to insist, our sinful human nature rejects this way of thinking, it does not see a king as servant or a servant as master!  
 
Unless the disciples would allow him to serve them, unless they could serve in turn, then they could have nothing in common with him. Jesus resolved to serve by surrendering His will to that of the Father – in this way his life would become a real offering. Jesus gave himself away for his friends. He gave His body and blood in the form of food and drink, so that those who should follow him may be one with him.  What he offered them at table he would offer on the wood of the cross. This why priests must be servants of the baptised.
 
Thus if we are to follow Jesus we cannot separate the command to eat his body and drink his blood and his command to serve. Together they bear witness to what it means to be a Christian. Heed therefore the warning Christ gives us this evening – “If I … your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each others feet.”  This attitude of service towards each other is of utmost importance. We are to consider and behave towards each other as though each were the servant. Tomorrow Jesus shows us just how much it costs to carry out the Divine will, how much it costs to serve others – tomorrow the Suffering Servant is presented to us on the altar of the Cross.  Tonight though he asks us to watch and pray with Him,  that we may not be put to the test – for the spirit may indeed be willing but our flesh is weak.