MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #474

And when the hour was come, he sat down: and the twelve apostles with him. And he said to them: "With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer." (Luke 22:14-15)

THE LAST PASCH: Jesus had a great desire to eat "this," last typical Pasch, with His disciples. When He had eaten this Paschal lamb with them, the Old Covenant was closed, and the New Covenant of grace began; for immediately after the Paschal feast our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, in which the true Lamb of God is offered up, and given to the faithful to be the Food of their souls. The loving Heart of Jesus longed to institute the New Covenant of grace, to offer Himself up in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood for our salvation, and to give Himself to us for the nourishment of our souls. Therefore He said: "With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you."

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)