Maundy Thursday

“The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.” – Dame Julian

My favorite moment in the proper liturgy for Maundy Thursday comes at the end when the celebrant, other clergy, and members of the congregation deliberately remove the articles of faith from the sanctuary, leaving it denuded of anything other than its basic, fixed furnishings.

I always find it remarkable that the emptiness seems to imbue the space with e…