Holy Thursday

We’re given a different picture of Jesus tonight.  We see him 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.  But 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.

One of his last communal moments with 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.

The imitation of Christ begins with this moment.  It is in the selfless service, doing what others won’t do, or can’t.  It’s the work of our outreach and advocacy parishioners.  It’s our school immersion programs and our hospitality ministers, our CRS ambassadors and Rice Bowl, our Vincentians, and pastoral ministers to the homebound and elderly. 

That is what it means to be like Christ.  That 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.  Because here – on our knees before others – here is where we see the true image of Christ.

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor