So simple
bread and wine
the common food of common people,
so everyday,
yet a staple needed for life.
He took the bread,
broke it,
the wine also in its simple cup,
saying,
this is my body,
broken
for you for the remission of sin
and blood,
eat in remembrance of what I am about to do.
Perhaps a little bewildered
they ate and drank.
After Judas left into the outer darkness to do his work,
Jesus arose,
their Rabbi whom they loved and respected,
he knelt before each one
washing their feet and drying them,
an act of gracious humility
by their teacher,
serving them
hoping that they would understand.
Knowing what lay ahead he loved them to the end,
having only compassion for what was to come,
for he understood the depth of human weakness,
forgiving before it all happened,
for love cannot hate nor seek revenge,
such is it strength,
seen by many as weakness,
for over and over again we seek to right things
by the irrational and destructive,
for the cycle can only be broken by love,
perhaps a lesson we will never learn yet the yeast there,
slowly bringing forth
the kingdom of God.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
