Lent Day 4: First Saturday in Lent— The Eating of the Paschal Lamb.

Be sure to see the Preface for information on this meditation set and helpful guide on meditating.

Listen to the audio of this meditation using the player above.

The Eating of the Paschal Lamb.

Read St. Luke xxii. 14-18.

[14] And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. [15] And he said to them: With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer.
[16] For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.[17] And having taken the chalice, he gave thanks, and said: Take, and divide it among you:[18] For I say to you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God come.

Our blessed Lord, before He suffered, celebrated the Jewish rite which above all the rest foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The paschal lamb was an exact type of Him, the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world.

1. The paschal lamb was the means employed by Almighty God to deliver His people from Egypt. It was the sprinkling of its blood on the posts of the door which caused the avenging angel to pass by and leave the inmates unharmed. So the Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on our souls, in the sacraments and when we make an act of contrition, saves us from the vengeance that would otherwise fall upon us. O Jesus! sprinkle me with one drop of Thy precious Blood, and I shall be free from sin.

2. The paschal lamb had to be drained of the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb of God shed for us the last drop of His precious Blood. He was not satisfied with merely giving His life for us, but He must needs endure all the intense agony, the burning thirst which came of this draining of His whole body for love of us. How can I ever thank Him as I ought?

3. The lamb suffers uncomplainingly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there; unlike the filthy swine, that grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do it.” Can I echo these words?