Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper

Tonight, on one of the holiest nights of the year, we see Jesus on his knees, wiping away dirt, washing feet.  This is truly what it means to be Christ.  He said so himself.  “I have given you a model to follow,” he tells his apostles, “so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

For all those who ask the perennial question, “What would Jesus do?,” here is your answer.  And it comes at a surprising moment: on this night when we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist.  The church does not offer us a gospel reading about Christ giving us himself in the form of bread and wine.  Instead, it gives us this gospel reading.

But the message, I think, is the same.  Tonight, Jesus gets down on his knees for us.  Tonight, he lowers himself.  Tonight, he becomes a servant to the world – as humble as a slave, as meager and plain as a crumb of bread.  From this, we learn what it means to be like Christ.  The overwhelming impression is surprising, and challenging.  It is God becoming less… so that we can become more.

One of his last acts on earth, the last communal moment with his friends, is spent taking care of them, purifying them, removing the dust of the day.  Perhaps he is anticipating the roads they will travel in the hours ahead.  Maybe he is somehow getting them ready for the long journey ahead – missions they will undertake after he has gone, traveling by foot to bring the gospel to the world.

We all walk the earth carrying the debris of our lives – our failings, our sins, our weaknesses.  They cling to us.  But here, they are washed away.  We are made new; we can begin again.  This is what it means to wash feet.  “As I have done for you, you should also do.”  That is Christ’s message to his followers 2,000 years ago – and, of course, to us tonight. 

And so, this night, confronted with this challenging gospel reading, it’s worth asking ourselves: what have we done?  How many feet have we washed?  How have I tried to imitate Christ?  Here – on his knees before others, we find Christ.

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor