Holy Thursday – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Today’s gospel reading for the Mass of Holy Thursday comes from the Gospel of John. Only in this gospel do we find Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Foot washing was a custom common in Jesus’ time. Dirty and dusty roads combined with open-toed footwear made this a necessity. In the houses of the wealthy, there was usually a pitcher and bowl at the door and a servant, someone who was considered less important, would do the washing.
Jesus stuns his disciples when he takes it upon himself to perform this lowly task. As Jesus prepares to wash his friends’ feet, Peter protests. He only agrees to let Jesus do it when he tells him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Peter and the disciples probably felt vulnerable and perhaps even embarrassed to expose their dirty feet to Jesus’ ministrations. Yet, as Jesus prepared for his own death, he desired to share this deeply personal, intimate, loving experience with each of his friends. Jesus also explains his reasons for doing it. “You ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Could Jesus be teaching us that he understands our vulnerability and how difficult it may be to remove the “dirt” that hides our real selves? He knows our shortcomings and failings and loves us in spite of them. He invites us into an intimate relationship with him each time we receive the Eucharist. Think of the words we say shortly before we receive, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the words and my soul shall be healed.” Our recognition of unworthiness and our acceptance of God’s healing love prepares us to receive the Lord.
As we are nearing the end of our Lenten journey, let us open ourselves up and be vulnerable with God. His invitation is that we be as open to Him in love as he is to us. As we read the verse before the Gospel, “I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you,” let us pray that we can allow ourselves to be served so that we can go out and do likewise.
One of the blessings of assisting children in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program is the invitation to wonder alongside the children and ponder God’s word. As part of our Lenten preparation in the atrium, we spend time meditating on stories about Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. One way we do this is reading all four gospels in order to compare and contrast the Last Supper narratives and think about why they are different. Perhaps this is an activity you also might want to participate in during Holy Week.
-Jessica Gabrielli