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Peter's Last Supper
From the talk Mark Mallett gave at St. Pius X Parish,
Kelowna, BC, January 30, 2000
It is the
year 67 A.D.
Knowing he was to be put to death soon, Peter rose among the
community of believers, and shared with them this story...
"It was a strange night. Jesus seemed
more quiet than usual. He didn't laugh at my jokes the way he
normally did. I knew something was bothering him...bothering
him deeply. I think all twelve of us sensed it as we sat around
the Passover table.
All of us knew this was going to be a different
meal. We knew it this morning when Jesus sent John and I into
the city to find a man carrying a jar of water. John laughed
out loud: "A man carrying a jar of water? Lord, we'll
be looking all day!"
But sure enough--not two minutes into Jerusalem,
there's this little guy carrying a water jar on his head. He
broke our astonishment when he nearly ran into the back-end of
a camel!
John ran to him and helped the jar down from
his head. So looking down at this little fellow I asked him,
"Where are you going?" He took us down a few streets,
past the clamor of the marketplace. Everyone was hurrying about,
making preparations for the Passover. The heat of the day had
caught up to us already. But the happy bustle of the marketplace
had lifted my spirits. I was looking forward to a quiet evening
with my companions, with Jesus.
We turned a corner, and there in full view
was the temple, glistening in the sun. The temple always inspired
me. Jesus too was inspired when he saw the temple--it's great
walls, the beautiful workmanship, it's magnificent pillars...
Just then, I thought of Jesus' strange words: "I will destroy
this temple, but in three days rebuild it..." What did he...
Suddenly John pulled me into the little man's
house. "This is it!" John shouted, his baby face beaming
as it always did when Jesus performed a miracle. "Just like
the Master said: The man with the water jar would lead us to
a house with an upper guest room!" We ran up the stairs.
There it was, just like Jesus had described it.
We chuckled all the way back to meet the others...
but we weren't laughing that night.
Jesus' face seemed almost in pain as he broke
the bread. Then those words, "This is my body which will
be given up for you; do this in memory of me." Like so many
times, none of us fully grasped what Jesus was saying.
"Take this cup and share it," he
said, lifting up the goblet of wine, "this cup is the new
covenant in my blood which will be shed for the forgiveness of
sins."
His words sent shivers down my spine. This
was no ordinary meal. At the very least, I knew Jesus was saying
something I would never forget--that none of us has ever forgotten.
He was saying goodbye, and yet, somehow he wasn't.
That night in the garden--oh what a night!
My head was spinning. Jesus seemed to be suffering so greatly.
He wanted me with him, and yet there was nothing I could do or
say to comfort him.
As I watched him from a distance, his words
raced through my mind like a chariot. "I am the bread of
life... Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him on the last day." It didn't make
sense - how could this be? The words put me out like a wind across
a candle.
It seemed like I had been sleeping for but
a minute when he woke me an hour later. I will never--never
forget the look on his face. Such agony have I never seen
in a man's face.
I promised him I would try and stay awake.
He left us again. But like the ghosts of the Sea of Galilee,
his words haunted my mind once more: "...my flesh is true
food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh
and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him... the one who
feeds on me will have life because of me."
O Brothers! O Jesus! I did not know! I
did not know the meaning of these words.
When they took him away, I was lost, utterly
lost. I had to follow... O, God I wish I hadn't. You know well
what I did. Each morning till this day when the rooster crows,
I am reminded that... that he loves me. And I hear the words--no,
I feel the words--"this is the cup of my blood which
will be shed for the forgiveness of sins." My sins. That
sin...
I wanted to follow Jesus with the crowds when
he carried the cross to the Place of the Skull, but I was too
ashamed--not to be seen with Him--but that he would see me.
My friends, I did not know that day... I
did not know that the blood which fell to the ground on the
dusty streets of Jerusalem would be the same blood that you and
I will drink this day. I did not know that those healing hands
pierced by iron nails would be the same hands which we would
hold this day. I did not know that those bruised and bleeding
feet which walked upon water, which crossed a thousand, thousand
miles... which rested in my boat... would be consumed by us today.
And I did not know that his heart, that heart of love pierced
through with MY SINS... would be the same heart which
joins with ours this day.
But my brothers, now I know. Now I
know that the same Jesus who died and rose from the dead is the
same Jesus whom we shall break in the bread! Now I know that
he who ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of
the Father is the same one whom we shall drink this day! That
he who will come again on the clouds is coming this day - as
food, as life, as love.
Brothers! We are not orphans! He who is God
is about to come among us. Let us greet Him. Let us greet God
who is bread and wine. Let us eat bread and wine that we may
possess God and he possess us.
For he who has died will rise in us. And he
who shed his blood,will now flow through us. Come Brothers, come.
Let us sit at table...."
--Mark Mallett
