HOLY THURSDAY- (Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15)

We all have trouble remembering things. When a mother asks her children, "Did you clean up your room?" or "Did you take out the trash like I told you to?"  The usual answer would be “I forgot". People have a lot of ways to help them to remember things. One of the oldest memory tricks is a simple piece of string. People tie a string around their finger and every time they look at the string, they remember that they were supposed to...hmm, I forgot what it was I was supposed to remember. That's why someone invented post-it notes. With post-it notes, you can write down what it is you need to remember. The only trouble with post-it notes is that we sometimes forget to look at the notes! Now, there is a really hi-tech way to help you remember things. It is an electronic pocket scheduler. You can put in what you are supposed to remember and set an alarm. When it is time for you to do it, the alarm goes off and you can read on the display what it is you are supposed to do. The same thing you can do on your high-tech cell phones nowadays.

When Buddha was on his deathbed, his disciple Anand asked him for a memorial and Buddha gave him a Jasmine flower. However, as the flower dried up, the memory of Buddha also dwindled. But Jesus Christ instituted a lasting memorial of his sacrificial death and asked his disciples to keep the remembrance of it every day.

On Holy Thursday, we celebrate three anniversaries: 1) the anniversary of the first Holy Mass, 2) the anniversary of the institution of ministerial priesthood, 3) the anniversary of the promulgation of Jesus’ new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). Today we remember how Jesus transformed the Jewish Passover into the New Testament Passover.  Jesus began his Passover celebration by washing the feet of his disciples (a service assigned to household servants), as a lesson in humble service, proving that he “came to the world not to be served but to serve.” (Mark 10:45). He instituted the Holy Eucharist as the sign and reality of God’s perpetual presence with His people as their living, heavenly food.  This was followed by the institution of the priesthood with the command, “Do this in memory of me."   Jesus concluded the ceremony with a long speech incorporating his command of love:  “Love one another as I have loved you”(Jn 13:34).  He served as both the Host and the Victim of a sacrifice.  He became the Lamb of God, as John the Baptist had previously predicted (John 1:29, 36), who would “take away the sins of the world.”  Thus he presents himself at the last supper as a lamb and as a servant. As a lamb he sheds his blood in reparation for others’ sins and as a servant he washes the feet of the weak and takes upon himself the pains and weakness of them.

Lamb was an important symbol in expiation of sins. In Leviticus we read the account of transferring the sin of the society onto the lamb. “The High Priest is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place (Lev.16:21-22).” The goat bore their sins and disappeared into the desert. This gave the Israelites a visual image to “see” God forgiving their sins. Before the scapegoat was sent out, the high priest had sacrificed a goat and made atonement as a sin offering for the nation of Israel. The law prescribed, “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. (Lev 16:15). The reconciliation with God has been accomplished for the year.

In John’s Gospel there is no account of the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.  Instead we are told about his washing the disciples’ feet. Because it was very significant in the context of the last supper.  After washing the feet he sat down and said, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.”  In equivalent words, “Do this in memory of me.” 

There is something more than a lesson in humility in the Master's gesture. It is like an anticipation, like a symbol of his Passion, of the total humiliation He has to suffer to save all men.

Theologian Romano Guardini says that “the attitude of our littleness bowing down in front of the great is not yet an attitude of humility. It is simply, an attitude to truth. But when the great bows down before our littleness that is true humility”. This is why Jesus Christ is really humble.

Last year, as detained men and women wept openly when Pope Francis washed their feet, Francis told them “The love that Jesus has for us is so big that he became a slave to serve us, to take care of us, to purify us.” 

Our celebration of the Eucharist requires that we wash one another’s feet, i.e., serve one another, and revere Christ's presence in other persons.   To wash the feet of others is to love them, even when they don't deserve our love. It is to do good to them, even if they don't return the favor. It is to consider others' needs to be as important as our own. It is to forgive others from the heart, even if they don't say, "I'm sorry."

In Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper everybody is on one side of the table? The other side is empty. "Why's that?" someone asked the great artist. His answer was simple. "So that there may be plenty of room for us to join them."

Jesus demonstrates so clearly that I am to serve others, not necessarily by washing their feet—though there are plenty of opportunities for practical care—but by listening well and responding openly to others. May we see in our “washing another’s feet” the dignity of the person we face and also the tender reality of our own humbled dignity as servants.  “As I have done for you, you should do also.”