Lent Day 38 – Lenten Devotion – Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026
Remaining Holy Week Worship Schedule:
“Seven Words: Simple, Powerful, Renewing Words”
Take and Eat This Bread
O’Brien
Take and eat this bread
Take and drink this cup
This is my body and my blood
When you eat this bread
When you drink this cup
You live in me and I in you
Come all who thirst
For life eternal
Come to the table of salvation
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
When was the last time an experience touched you at the core? When was the last time you wondered if you would ever be touched like that again? When was the last time you felt something touch you in a way you never thought possible?
When was the last time you touched someone else? That person knew it and you knew it. The two of you shared a connection, and you were the one who made the first move. Touching the heart of another, reaching out to another, supporting a beloved sister or brother in need, loving one another, is as amazing as being the one who is touched.
Maundy Thursday. What is this night all about? Where does the name for this night come from? "Maundy" comes from the Latin form for, "mandate." This night is about the "new mandate," the "new commandment," to trust and to fulfill the power and grace in seven simple, powerful, renewing words: "Love one another, as I love you." Trust you are loved by the One who made the first move, to touch the life and heart of one another at the core, as we have been touched by God and God's grace.
On this night, Jesus touched his disciples by washing their feet, by taking bread and the cup, by serving them, by loving them and gracing them. Jesus is still amazed and blessed as he touches you with His real and holy presence. He longs for you, to touch you. He longs for you to touch the lives and hearts of others, to love one another as you have been loved, as you have been touched.
When was the last time you were touched at the core? Wondering if you will ever feel it again? Trust this holy day, these blessed days before us, now, when you need Him most, will be the next time!
Let us pray: Lord, I long for you to touch me again. I know you bless me in amazing ways as I let you guide me in serving others and touching the lives and spirits of others. Make the first move again; call me again into your real and holy presence, to feel your Spirit and your touch. Call me through your new commandment, to trust I can go and touch the lives and hearts of others, for I have first been so loved and touched by your grace. In your name and grace alone, I pray. Amen.
