“Eat!”

Psalm 102: 4, 9: “My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away. Indeed, I forget to eat my bread … for I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.” Why is this the Psalm for Maundy Thursday, the day which marks the institution of the Eucharist? Because it reminds us of what happens with we ignore the sacrament. In times past the Church has discouraged participation in the Lord’s Table, or when it was celebrated, it was in a melancholy, mournful, oppressive fashion. This led to the woes recorded in this psalm. Today let us celebrate the sacrament with joy, even on this sober occasion, for the promise it contains: freedom and continuity (vv. 20, 28).