In this spirit, Pastor Tim Brown offers a plan for an intentional meal at home for Maundy Thursday. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. You are invited to use the message below for personal devotion as well as prompts for sermon writing.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Below is a full reflection with additional ideas. Here is a quick guide you can print and follow with your family: Family Maundy Thursday Quick Guide<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Maundy Thursday is an observance of intention.\u00a0 The word \u201cmaundy\u201d is taken from \u201cmaundatum\u201d or \u201cmandate,\u201d where Jesus commands his followers to love one another.<\/p>\n The whole observance is a story in three parts: confession and forgiveness, acts of service, and a meal of love.\u00a0 For an adapted family service around the table, a simple prayer will suffice for confession and forgiveness on this night and will open the observance with sacred empty space.\u00a0 The washing and meal that follow can be done with as much joy or as much solemnity as your family dynamics dictate.\u00a0 Remember that the point of this observance is not to feel anything in particular, but rather to participate in a larger story that these holy days narrate.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to note that, while your family meal is certainly sacred, this is not the Sacrament of Holy Communion and not a \u201cChristian Seder.\u201d\u00a0 This is recalling what every Eucharist reminds us: every shared meal is ordinary and<\/em> extraordinary, and Christ is present in our gathering whenever we dine in fellowship.<\/p>\n So, what should you eat for dinner? Frankly, you\u2019re welcome to eat whatever you\u2019d most enjoy on this night.\u00a0 If you want a more traditional Middle Eastern meal, not unlike the food Jesus may have eaten, grapes, dates, figs, olives, and some crusty bread are good additions to the table if everyone enjoys them. Perhaps some crackers and hummus, too. But if these aren\u2019t in your usual diet or don\u2019t agree with your palate, the point is not to re-enact a meal, but to have a meal, together. Eat what you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n If, as part of your Holy Week observance you\u2019ve made some bread, enjoy that on this night. Bread-baking as a family is a time-honored tradition that spans cultures and ages. Remember to enjoy the gathering, don\u2019t sweat the details too much and just do everything with intention.<\/p>\n To begin, gather the family together around the table, standing or seated. Invite everyone to take a deep breath and quiet themselves.\u00a0 Light some candles to use as a centerpiece for the table if you have them. If using candles is unwise, or they aren\u2019t available, just take some time to be quiet in God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n After a while, invite everyone to share their favorite memory that involves a meal. It could be a favorite dish from childhood, a time they shared food with someone at school or on a trip, a special event that they attended, or even a perennial meal they enjoy. What do they enjoy about it? Why?<\/p>\n Then, invite someone to offer a prayer with these, or similar, words. Note that the prayer should both give thanks for the gift of shared meals and food and also acknowledge that we too often ignore the hungry around us.\u00a0 In this way the prayer is both an act of praise and confession.<\/p>\n \u201cGracious God, you give us good things to eat and invite us to share with one another.\u00a0 Thank you for the many ways you feed our minds, feed our hearts, and the very real ways you feed our bellies each day. We also know that we do not share our food, our minds, and our hearts in the ways that you would have us.\u00a0 For the ways we don\u2019t give of ourselves and our resources, we ask you forgiveness.\u00a0 And for the many ways you sustain us, we give you thanks.\u00a0 On this holy night when Jesus shared his last meal with his friends, we remember the great gift it is to eat and spend time with one another. Thank you for this meal, for this holy night, and for all your gifts. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Invite everyone to be seated with their chairs facing outward, away from the table. Have a bowl of substantial size nearby, like a mixing bowl, a pitcher or larger cup of warm water and a towel for drying.<\/p>\n Invite someone to read John 13:1-17, the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. After you\u2019ve \u201cOn this night we have heard our Lord’s commandment to love one another as he has loved us. We who receive God’s love in Jesus Christ are called to love one another, to be servants to each other as Jesus became our servant. Our commitment to this loving service is signified in the washing of feet, following the example our Lord gave us on this night.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Then invite each family member, in turn, to wash one foot of another member of the family, carefully drying it.\u00a0 Only one foot is necessary, and each person should take a turn. If foot washing is not preferable, you can do hand washing instead, though there is something particularly special and intimate about foot washing.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re performing this ritual with children, it\u2019s natural for them to laugh and giggle during this. This is OK! This night should be about enjoyment as much as it is about sacred acts. Often, they are one and the same. During the foot-washing, it\u2019s appropriate to sing if your family is a singing family. \u201cCome by Here\u201d is a great option, or even just a verse of a familiar song like \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d or \u201cJesus Loves Me\u201d works well.<\/p>\n After foot-washing, you can invite people to wash their hands and turn their chairs to face back toward the table for the meal.<\/p>\n After everyone is seated and ready, enjoy the meal! Invite people to share reflections about their day, or perhaps ask them what they liked or didn\u2019t like about the foot washing. You can ask those gathered what love means, how they like to best express love, and what the most beautiful act of love they\u2019ve ever seen was.<\/p>\n Toward the end of the meal, but before you\u2019re completely done, invite everyone to quiet back down as you tell the story of the meal portion of the last supper. During this part, I encourage you not to lift up any bread or wine, but if there is bread on the table or a drink, you can reference it as a reminder of the meal. Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, recalling Jesus\u2019 last supper. Then say these words, or something similar:<\/p>\n \u201cTonight we have participated in a supper like Jesus\u2019 last as his disciples gathered together around him.\u00a0 The Gospels tell us that after supper Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn together and went out to the Mount of Olives.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be given a few minutes to eat just a bit more and have another few sips, and then we\u2019ll begin cleaning up quietly, without any loud talking, taking any dishes to the kitchen sink, wiping down tables, and sweeping up. Everyone gets to help.\u00a0 After we clean up, we\u2019re going to stay pretty quiet the rest of the night to honor this holy night.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Invite everyone to clean up quietly. On this night where it\u2019s tradition to strip the altar and take everything out of the sanctuary, you may want to take your clean up a little farther by sweeping the whole room, washing down the tables and chairs and countertops, and even keeping the table free from adornments like table cloths or candles. Make everything bare. After the clean-up is done, invite everyone back around the table for a final prayer saying these words, or something similar:<\/p>\nMaundy Thursday Family Feast<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Decide What You Want to Eat for Dinner<\/h3>\nGather Around the Table<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Talk Together<\/h3>\nPray Together<\/h3>\n
Wash Each Other\u2019s Feet or Hands<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>read the story, say the following (or something like it):<\/p>\nEat Together<\/h3>\n
Tell the Story Together<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nClean Up<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n
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<\/a>getting late for young children, a bath and story-time is very appropriate. In these days of shelter-in-place when screen-time has probably been at a premium, this is a perfect night to keep all screens off and keep visual distractions to a minimum, including phone distractions.<\/p>\n