In the Catholic Church, Holy Thursday is the first day of the Triduumm, the three days during which we commemoreate Christs Passion. When Erin over at Big Fat Baker sent out the e-mail for this months Holiday Recipe Club., I almost passed on it this month. For the faithful, Easter runs deeper than the Easter Bunny and other stuff.
Easter has become so commercialized.
With all its Easter egg hunts and Easter baskets, we forget the true meaning.
I want to share with you a Passover meal.
It is similar to what Jesus would have eaten today
.
It is significant because today Jesus would have eaten his Last Supper.
This would be his last meal before he died on the cross for us.
His meal would have looked something like this.
Yes, it has eggs in it, back then they called it Beitzah.
Eggs are one of the ingredients Erin listed that we can use.
How fitting she would pick that particular ingredient.
It is the simple roasted egg that symbolizes life and our continual existence.
When Jesus and his disciples ate the Last Supper, it was on the first night of the Passover festival, otherwise known as the Seder meal.
This is the night that Judas betrays Jesus.
You know Judas, he was the guy that told the authorities where Jesus was.
All this for 30 coins.
Way to go Judas for throwing Jesus under the bus.
Today it is believed that those same 30 coins would be a whole months salary.
Maybe even more.
After the feast, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples as an example of humility.
A symbolic Seder meal would have consisted of many things. This is similar to what Jesus ate at the Last Supper.
ELEMENTS OF THE MEAL
Zeroah traditionally a piece of roasted lamb shank bone, symbolizing the paschal sacrificial offering
Unleavened bread (Matzoh) called "bread of affliction" because it recalls the unleavened bread prepared for the hasty flight by night from Egypt. Three large matzohs are broken and consumed during the ceremony.
Beitzah: a roasted egg, as a symbol of life and the perpetuation of existence.
Bitter herbs (Moror) is a reminder of the bitterness of slavery and suffering in Egypt.
Karpas a vegetable, preferably parsley or celery, representing hope and redemption; served with a bowl of salted water to represent the tears shed.
Charoses represents the mortar used by Jews in building palaces and pyramids of Egypt during their slavery. (It is a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine.)
Wine is dipped from a common bowl. The 'Four Cups,' Thanksgiving, Hagadah ('telling'), Blessing, and Melchisedek ('righteousness'), are "four different words for redemption, spoken by God to Moses."
Peace be with you. Veronica
