＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Exodus 24:3-8

 Moses came and told the people

All the words of Yahweh and all his laws. The people replied with one voice: “Everything that Yahweh has said, we shall do.”  Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve raised stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

 He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to Yahweh.  And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar.

 He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, “All that Yahweh said we shall do and obey.”  Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Here is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

 

Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18

I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

 

    ＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Hebrews 9:11-15

 But now Christ has appeared as the high priest with regard to the good things of these new times. He passed through a sanctuary more noble and perfect, not made by hands, that is, not created.   He did not take with himself the blood of goats and bulls but his own blood, when he entered once and for all into this sanctuary after obtaining definitive redemption.  

 If the sprinkling of people defiled by sin with the blood of goats and bulls or with the ashes of a heifer provides them with exterior cleanness and holiness,   how much more will it be with the blood of Christ? He, moved by the eternal Spirit, offered himself as an unble­mished victim to God and his blood cleanses us from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.

 So Christ is the mediator of a new covenant or testament. His death made atonement for the sins committed under the old testament, and the promise is hand­ed over to all who are called to the everlasting inheritance.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

 On the first day of the Fes­tival of Unleavened Bread, the day when the Passover Lamb was killed, the disciples asked him, “Where would you have us go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”  So Jesus sent two of his dis­ciples with these instructions, “Go into the city and there a man will come to you carrying a jar of water.

Follow him to the house he enters and say to the owner,  ‘The Master says: Where is the room where I may eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’  Then he will show you a large room upstairs, already arranged and furnished. There you will prepare for us.”   The disciples went off. When they reached the city, they found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And he said, “Take this, it is my body.”   Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it.  And he said, “This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many.   Truly, I say to you, I will not taste the fruit of the vine again until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.”

 After singing psalms of praise, they went out to the Monut of Olives.  

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:Jesus desires to celebrate the Passover meal with His disciples. He made advanced arrangements for them to have a place in the city to do so. After finding the place and making the necessary preparations, on that night Jesus broke bread with His disciples and had them drink the wine with cryptic words that later on would be recalled by his disciples as they celebrate the Last Supper Jesus had with them in memory of that night. 

Reflect:

The situation is now tense. Jesus has to be cautious in His movements. A shroud of secrecy cloaks even His going to Jerusalem, for surely the civil and religious authorities are on the lookout. They are ready to apprehend Him. He has become a liability to their continued claim to power and authority. 

And so, when preparations are done for the celebration of the Passover meal, Jesus instituted what would later be the Eucharist of the community of believers. On that fateful night when doom hung like a sword, Jesus made sure that the meal he shared with his disciples would be continuously re-enacted by his future followers.

What is Jesus thinking during this time? What is it like to know that your end is near? We will never know. But the last memory the disciples have of their Lord is one of religious celebration where there is eating and singing of Psalms praising God. 

Respond:

Having a meal with those close to us is always a joyful occasion, the comfort of good food is amplified by good company. We may always have this eating time with our loved ones such as family and relatives, but how about some of our friends?

Perhaps it is a good time now to plan a meeting of high school friends, long-lost co-workers or even co-members of organizations that we have left behind for many years already. Catching up with what happened with our individual lives would be a good way to reconnect.