Holy Thursday Homily

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For centuries before Christ, service was something people were forced to do.  Slavery produced servants who tended to the master’s every need.

But even the lowliest of slaves would never be asked to humiliate himself or herself by washing the dust-covered feet of the Master.  In Jesus’ time, it would be too insulting and too demeaning to make such a request of a slave.

That’s what made Jesus’ action so shocking to his disciples, and especially poor, naïve Peter.  

Peter is so proud and so fiercely loyal to Christ.  Little does he know that he’s about to betray his Master in a self-protecting act of human cowardice. In Jesus’ hour of need, Peter will run and hide and deny he even knows the Messiah.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is lowering himself to a station lower than a slave to teach his followers a powerful lesson of His expectations for discipleship. This is a lesson for us all.

Service out of love is not slavery.  Service out of love is stepping into a new reality demanded of the followers of the Son of God. 

Jesus makes it crystal clear when he gets out ties the towel around his waist and pours water into the basin.

“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

After washing His disciples’ feet in preparation for their Last Supper together, Jesus delivers His most powerful message to us all. 

“I’ve given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Jesus calls us to become a loving gift of self for others.  This is what he is symbolizing in the washing of the feet.

   Seems easy enough, but it’s really not.  It’s quite hard and demanding to be Christ to others.

How do we do serve others under our current season of self-isolation? A phone call to a loved one or fellow parishioner is a good start. Just providing the ministry of presence to another is the perfect gift of service in these challenging times.

  When we serve others in communion with Christ and communion with our creator, the Holy Spirit, The Helper is unleashed and this communion with the Holy Trinity transforms our lives forever.

    Catholics are called to life in the Sacraments.  From birth to death, Catholics are given by Christ life-giving sacraments:  Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing for the Sick.

   But in receiving these sacraments, we are asked to become what we are given.  We are commanded to be a Sacrament of Service to others. 

   Pope Francis shocked the world on his first Holy Thursday when he washed the feet of criminals, Muslims and women, the same way Jesus shocked his followers with his humiliating acts of service in love today.

  And, like Peter, sometimes we can fail to understand the lesson Jesus is teaching and Pope Francis is imitating here.

The Sacrament of Service is so important that our failure to be Christ to others can impact our eternal inheritance.

But when we step into this new reality offered by Christ, our lives can change forever.

Our lives change forever because we learn the powerful message offered in today’s Gospel:  Only in serving others and denying our own self-interests, can we find the true happiness and peace. 

Yes, we will sometimes encounter Judas’ in our mission of love for others. These people are so consumed with their own personal interests that they betray others instead of serving others. This is a sad reality in all our lives. But we cannot let this deter us from serving others, even those who betray us.

 Jesus’s final hour has come.  His time has run out. 

In the final moments of his life, He points to the cross and reminds us that pouring out ourselves as a sacrifice for others is what he expects out of each and every one of us. 

This is how we gain our eternal Kingdom.  This is the key that unlocks the gates of heaven for us all.