On the eve of the Passover, Jesus and his disciples went up to the upper room of a building on Mount Zion, later a chapel, where they were to celebrate the traditional Passover meal. To the astonishment of his disciples, Jesus washed their feet, and he foretold that one among them would betray him on that night. But something more momentous and sacred happened on that night. Jesus transformed the bread and the wine into the first Eucharist or Holy Communion, his own body and blood. He gave humankind the blood of the new covenant, his own blood which would be shed for all. All four Gospels record this event, and it is the Source and Summit of the Christian life.
In the late afternoon, we climbed up a flight of 30 steps to the Room of the Last Supper in the Church of St. Mary of Zion as it is known today. This site has undergone many changes since the time of Jesus. In the first centuries after the death and Resurrection of Our Lord, it was a meeting place for the early Christians. According to our guide, the actual structure that stands today was built by the Franciscans in the 14th century over earlier Byzantine and Crusader structures. Like so many of the places we see in Old Jerusalem, it is not as it was in Jesus' time. But there is no mistaking the awe which we felt when we entered the room. As we had become accustomed, we read from Scripture the words of Jesus. This time they were the words he spoke on the night before he died when he gave us the precious gift of himself in the Eucharist. Standing there that evening, we went back in time and through his words, we witnessed as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, fulfilled the Covenant which would mark the end of Salvation History. This is my blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many. Mark14:24
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