I have worked in the public service and the civil service on and off since 1993. So I remember when we were all given a half day on Maundy Thursday (I can’t remember why). For my colleagues, that meant downing tools at lunchtime and then going to the pub for a long drinking session. A few still do this, although it’s on their own time, and nobody will be going to the pub today, but I do know of some in my office who are meeting up virtually.
It isn’t something I have ever joined in. I have never been able to contemplate approaching Good Friday by getting drunk with my workmates – I leave that for Christmas. I pass no judgment on them – I don’t expect anyone else to feel the same way I do or follow my practices. I don’t believe there’s a special circle of hell reserved for those who drink on Maundy Thursday, it just isn’t right for me.
This tradition is just another point in a week that is full of contradictions. We start with Palm Sunday, waving our crosses and palms (rather makeshift this year) shouting Hosanna to the King! Then the mood quickly gets reflective, becoming more sombre as the week progresses.
Maundy Thursday is often a day for solemn ceremonies of stripping altars, symbolic washing of feet and shared agape meals. We remember what we now know as the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, when he commanded them to “love one another”, right before he was betrayed and arrested. Then comes the awful Good Friday when we remember his crucifixion and death; when his mother and the other women watched him die; when his disciples were in disarray.
And yet, we know that there is a better day coming. We have the advantage over the people who were with Jesus because we know that Sunday is just around the corner. We try and enter into the darkness of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, but it is an imperfect experience – and for once, I am glad of that. The reassurance of knowing that the darkness will end in glorious light provides comfort and hope.
The knowledge of Easter Sunday and all that it symbolises provides believers with an undercurrent of joy that nothing, not even the darkness of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, nor the fear and anxiety of a pandemic can take away.
A weird day? Glorious Spring sunshine, alcohol, fun laughter. Solemnity and sombreness. Yes, weird indeed, but a better day is coming.
God, Life and Me 