Today's Readings - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
(Audio)
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
We might imagine many things that Jesus would have done in his last moments with his disciples, many different ways he could have demonstrated that he loved them to the end. But who could have guessed what he actually went on to do? We tend to read the washing of the feet on a superficial level, as a demonstration, if somewhat extreme, of the principle of humility that he always taught and practiced. Had it been merely that Jesus would not have needed to say, "What I am doing, you do not understand now". It was indeed a display of humility. But it was humility on a cosmic scale. It was a demonstration on a cosmic scale of the inner meaning of the incarnation and the Passion and therefore also the Eucharist. It was probably for this reason that John the Evangelist included this story precisely when he knew his readers would have been expecting the institution narrative, based on their familiarity with the accounts of the life of Jesus recorded in the Synoptics. The disciples were witnessing the reality of what was written in Paul's letter to the Philippians:
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (see Philippians 2:5-8).
On Holy Thursday, Jesus took upon himself the work of a slave in order to cleanse, not their whole bodies, but specifically the places that were rendered dirtiest and most unseemly by their walk of life in the world. It was a metaphor for what he would do for them by dying on the cross, at which time too he would be stripped of his clothing, and would cleanse, not only his disciples, but the world, not with ordinary water, but with the blood and living water that flowed from his wounded side. It explained the self-gift that was also present in the Eucharist, where the extreme humility and self-offering of Jesus was perfectly manifest and made available throughout the ages. This was too much for the disciples to take at the time. But once they had received the Holy Spirit they would understand that what had been done for them was not merely a nice theatrical gesture, but a life-changing gift. As extreme as was the humility he showed in washing their feet, it was insignificant next to that of the incarnation, the Passion, and the gift of himself in the Eucharist. But if it was less extreme it touched their hearts more directly, giving them a key of understanding to appreciate the meaning of the deeper mysteries. Those mysteries might have remained mere abstractions without the level of proximate direct experience.
Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
This calling to imitate the master meant one thing when they had only a limited understanding of the gesture. But later they would realize the depth of the self-gift that Jesus had given, and therefore what they too were called to imitate. They were called to give their very lives for others as Jesus had done for them, to become, as far as possible, food that gave life to the world. They had been loved to the end by Jesus. And now this was the model that they were to follow.
We too have been loved by Jesus to the end, but do not always fully understand or appreciate what was done for us. This is a perfect time to pray to the Holy Spirit for a greater gift of understanding. If we are privileged to witness the Mass of the Lord's Supper may the washing of the feet actually touch our hearts, not, as it may do at times, try our patience. The Spirit wants to move over the waters to bring about something in our hearts which is nothing less than a new creation.
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