By W.A. Ewing, Originally published on April 6, 2020 Today is known throughout Christian liturgical and devotional practice as “Maundy Thursday,” as Holy Week wends its way from last Palm Sunday to this coming Easter Sunday. The day takes its name from the Latin mandatum, “command.” According to one source in the literary foundations of Christianity, the Gospel of John recalls this day before Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, torture, and death on the cross the following day—“Good Friday,” tomorrow—as the day Jesus called his disciples together for what would be their last Passover meal, the ordinary practice of devout Jews in that day and this. During the meal, he is remembered to have said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just…
