tenebrae

Last year, after a track meet that Jack had on Maundy Thursday, we gathered as a family on the deck under the waning Paschal moon in a misty looking sky to observe and remember the events of Christ's last night on earth. That was an extremely meaningful evening for me and for my family. I don't think I said anything about it on the blog - it wouldn't have meant much.
This year, we did again, very similarly, but with 6 extra friends. It was powerful again, at least for those of us who did it last year. This year the Paschal moon was only barely waning because it had reached full only 9 hours before we gathered on the deck. Yeah, I'm symbolic, but to have the passover moon full precisely on the day that we observe Jesus' observance of the passover meal, well, it's meaningful to me. I'm not the only one evidently, because we still set the date of Easter by that full moon.




I like to think of it as the "shadow service." Tenebrae is Latin for shadow. I imagine Jesus operating that night in the shadow of death. He felt the shadow casting darkness. He spoke of his death that night, he prayed for his disciples, he prayed for unity, he prayed for me. He left the upper room and walked into the shadows of the garden and prayed all night. He was a light on whom darkness had fallen, and for the next 3 nights, nothing but shadows in a sin-conquered world.
But the very symbols that were used in that meal, and had been for centuries, spoke of and pointed to a light that shadows couldn't hide. And in real-life, away from the table, in the events of the next 3 days, everything the prophets had said about him, everything the meal had symbolized, would take place and be made complete.
But who knew?

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