Sermons And Gubbins

  This talk was written for our Maundy Thursday service on 28th March 2024. I hope you enjoy reading it. I always used to think today was called Maunday Thursday. I was never particularly sure what that meant – what a Maun Day was. I was fairly content with that; after all, the Church often has obscure names for feast days, high days, and holy days, and ember days. Why not a Maun day? Let’s face it – at this time of year, there’s enough confusion about how on earth anyone could name the events that we remember and commemorate tomorrow ‘Good’ to fill all your time during Lent and Easter to not even think about the name that we give to today. But today is not – as I’m sure you all know – Maunday Thursday. It is Maundy Thursday. And that – believe it or not – actually makes all the difference. The word ‘maundy’ comes from (as many things in the Church do) Latin. It’s from the word mandatum , meaning commandment . And that’s what today is all about – the new commandment. “ I give you a ne