By Joy Mosbarger

Most of us are familiar with Jesus' words at the Last Supper - or at least with some of those words. When we celebrate mass, we regularly hear "this is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" and "this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." Recently, however, I read through Luke 22, which includes the Last Supper and the events surrounding it. In addition to these familiar words from the Last Supper, I was struck by some of the other words spoken by Jesus on this momentous occasion.

After Jesus and the disciples settled together around the Passover table, the first words Jesus spoke were these: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). As he faces a time of unimaginably intense suffering in his life, Jesus has a deep and powerful longing to be with his disciples. Though Jesus clearly needed to be with his Father as he approached the suffering that was to come (vv. 41-44), he also seems to have felt a need to be with his disciples - his closest earthly, human friends. Jesus' profound yearning to be with his disciples at this darkest, most difficult place in his life is quite remarkable.

This desire is even more remarkable when considering the major imperfections of the disciples, which are on display for all to see in the events following the Last Supper in Luke 22. Their immediate reaction to Jesus' disclosure of his imminent suffering is not sympathy, but a discussion of which one of them is going to betray Jesus (v. 23). This is immediately followed by a dispute that arose among them as to which of them should be considered to be the greatest (vv. 24-30). He later asks them to pray that they might not enter into temptation while he is alone in prayer with the Father. Instead, they fall asleep (vv. 39-46). Judas betrays him (vv. 47-48), and Peter denies him (vv. 54-62). Their actions do not reveal the disciples as being intent on encouraging and strengthening a friend in a time of great need. Yet in spite of the disciples' human frailties and failures, of which Jesus was well aware, he still earnestly desired to be with them at this horrendously grueling point in his life.

There are two truths in particular from this narrative in Luke 22 that I find most striking and extraordinary. First, Jesus loved his disciples as they were and strongly desired to be with them. It is obvious that the disciples needed Jesus in profound ways. Yet, on some level, Jesus "needed" the disciples - or at least he wanted them with him in this place of deep struggle and pain. And he didn't want to be with them because of the depth of their maturity; rather, he longed to be with them with all their flaws and defects because he knew that they (except maybe Judas) loved him to the degree that they were capable of doing so. I find it immensely comforting and quite astounding to know that Jesus actually wants to be with me with all my imperfections and weaknesses - because I have a lot of them.

Second, though the disciples were with Jesus in this place of deep anguish, they didn't really hear what he had to say. They were more focused on themselves and what they perceived as their needs. They seemed to be more worried about which of them would betray Jesus rather than the fact that Jesus was going to be betrayed. During their last hours with the greatest human being who ever lived, they were arguing about which of them was the greatest. When Jesus asked them to pray while he was alone with the Father, they fell asleep. With momentous events of eternal consequence taking place around them and in the presence of the one at the center of these events, the disciples seem to be missing the significance of Jesus' words and the privilege of Jesus' presence.

It saddens me to realize that often I am welcomed into the presence of Jesus, who earnestly desires to be with me, and all I can do is think about and talk about me. I miss what he is saying and doing, which is of much greater, deeper, and lasting significance than what I am saying and doing. Jesus gave his body for me and poured out his blood for me; he willingly sacrificed all for me. Shouldn't that motivate me to recognize the eternal, incalculable value of reveling in the privilege of enjoying his presence and closely watching for what he is saying and doing while I am with him?

By Deacon Keith Fournier

This God, Incarnate in Jesus Christ, takes up the basin, towel and washcloth. We behold Divine Love in service; pouring Himself out, like the water in that basin, in order to make all those whose feet were embraced by His sacred humanity clean all over. This is the mystery of faith that we profess during these Holy Days, this the way of loving service into which we are now invited through our Baptism into Christ.

On this Holy Thursday as we begin the great Triduum, the Three Days, we will read this wonderful account in the Gospel of St. John which reveals the depth of the Love of Jesus Christ and invites us into to a new way of living our lives now in Him:

"So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist… So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "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. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

How extraordinary! The God who fashioned the entire universe, who dwells in inaccessible light, is now present as a Man among men; serving the very humanity that had been created through Him. This God, before whom all the Nations will one day bend the knee, bends His human knee before the ones He had chosen to carry His redemptive mission forward until He returns in glory. This God, Incarnate in Jesus Christ, takes up the basin, towel and washcloth. We behold Divine Love in service; pouring Himself out, like the water in that basin, in order to make all those whose feet were embraced by His sacred humanity clean all over. This is the mystery of faith that we profess during these Holy Days, this the way of loving service into which are now invited through our Baptism into Christ. He lives His Life now in and through us and we live our lives now in Him, through our life in His Body, the Church.

St. John reminded the early Christians in the fourth chapter of the first letter he wrote after recording this Gospel of the implications of this event: "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us." Here, in this poignant scene recorded by this beloved disciple John we encounter Jesus before he shares a final meal with his closest friends; before He who knew no sin would suffer for our sins and freely stretch out His sacred arms to embrace the entire world and join heaven to earth, showing the depth and substance of true love. Today we meet the God who washes feet.

Shortly after this act of servant love we read of the continuation of his "kenosis", his poured out Love. Jesus inaugurates the great meal, the holy exchange, the Holy Eucharist, giving Himself as food for those who will make the journey with Him back to the Father. Then this Innocent One walks the way of suffering and mounts the altar of sacrifice to fully pour Himself out on behalf of us all and begin creation anew. As we enter into the "Triduum", the great three days, we are invited every year to make this mystery our own. No mere spectators in this Act of Love we are to become participants. Good Liturgy is not a reenactment of something that happened over 2000 years ago but an actual participation in the events themselves.

On Holy Thursday we enter into the institution of the Eucharist, here the eternal sacrifice of Calvary is truly made present. The Lamb of God becomes bread broken for others, wine poured out. No longer bread but His Body, no longer wine but His Blood. Then Christ the High Priest entrusts to the ones whom He invites to table, His ongoing mission of bringing the whole world along with them to the full communion of Trinitarian life, inaugurating the Holy Priesthood. Soon the Innocent Lamb will freely take the punishment and derision caused by the sins of a world that has forgotten love upon Himself. He will freely walk the way of suffering and die, in the words of the ancient church "trampling on death by death".

We are invited to make this mystery our own. No mere spectators in this Act of Love, we are participants. We are to pick up that basin and towel, to climb upon that Cross and to learn this way of selfless Love. We are to imitate the way of holiness demonstrated in the washing of feet and fulfilled on that Cross on Golgotha's' Hill. Tomorrow we will pause in utter silence and enter into the moment when heaven touched earth and earth touched heaven. We will stand on that Hill where out of Divine Love Jesus poured out every drop of blood and water from His wounded side. Through the power of that saving act of love we are freed from the grip of sin and death to say "Yes" to the full implications of our Baptismal call to discipleship, free to live our lives for others.

This year as we enter into the Mysteries of the Great Triduum we should ask ourselves the probing questions. Do we love by pouring ourselves out even for those whom we do not feel particularly fond of? Have we grasped this year, at least a little more, the implications and invitation of what we commemorate? On this Holy Thursday let us choose to follow the God who washes feet and learn the way of poured out love. Then we will understand more fully the real meaning and promise of the empty tomb.

by Brian Kranick

Jesus' actions on Holy Thursday were revolutionary and radical. They are meant to shock our consciences. Indeed, St. Peter was so shocked he exclaimed, "You shall never wash my feet." (Jn. 13:8) His sensibilities were offended that the Messiah, the very Son of God, would perform the actions of a typical household slave of those days. Jesus turned the world upside down. True greatness would no longer be measured in money, power and social status, but in simple humble service to our fellow man, as Jesus taught them, "He who is greatest among you shall be your servant." (Mt. 23:10)

It was in the Cenacle in Jerusalem that Thursday night that Jesus faced His imminent death. Just hours from His Passion and Crucifixion - this supreme moment in His life - all of His words and actions in the Upper Room carried special meaning and weight. Jesus waited until this moment at the Last Supper to institute the Eucharist and Holy Orders. In this intimate setting with His closest friends and Apostles, Jesus washes their feet, and gives us the Mandatum, or the mandate, the new commandment. As John tells us:

Jesus "rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded." (Jn. 13:4-5)

Following the washing of the disciples' feet, Jesus says, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you." (Jn. 13:14-15)

Here, with His final actions before Good Friday, Jesus shows the disciples that they are to humbly serve one another. He reinforces this with His final discourse, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (Jn. 13:34) On Holy Thursday, the beginning of the paschal Triduum, Jesus commissions all of His disciples, that is, all Christians, above all else, to love one another.

As with all things, Jesus' words and example is the model for us to follow. Jesus Himself said He "came not to be served but to serve." (Mt. 20:28) St. Paul too speaks of Jesus' humility as He "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." (Phil. 2:7) He spoke often about the need for humility and service, and the necessity to live one's life with Christian charity. One of Jesus' great teachings is the parable of the Good Samaritan. He uses the parable to demonstrate what our mercy should resemble, and that we should "Go and do likewise." (Lk. 10:37) In another parable, the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus warns us about the implications of not living a life of mercy and charity. In the parable, the rich man, who did not show mercy or compassion towards the poor man Lazarus, ends up in torment in Hades. Abraham reminds him that he had his opportunity to demonstrate mercy during his lifetime, but chose not to. These are sobering words from Jesus.

Perhaps the most jarring words on this is Jesus' depiction of the Final Judgment. The Righteous inherit the kingdom and eternal life, with Jesus telling them: "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." (Mt. 25: 35-36) The Righteous had lived Jesus' Beatitudes, especially "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Mt. 5:7) But to those who fail to perform works of mercy and charity, Jesus sends them to eternal punishment. Ultimately, we are judged by whether we follow Christ's new commandment or not. In serving the needy, we are, in reality, serving Christ, as He said, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Mt. 25:40)

Jesus says the distinguishing characteristic of His disciples will be their "love for one another." Tertullian remarked that the early Roman pagans would exclaim of Christians, "See how they love one another!" And what should this charity towards our neighbor look like? The Church teaches the corporal works of mercy, in which we minister to the bodily needs of the person, primarily as: "feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead." (CCC 2447) The Church similarly teaches that we should practice spiritual works of mercy as well, primarily by: instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently, and praying for the living and the dead. These bring to mind Jesus' words to St. Faustina on the absolute necessity for us to demonstrate mercy towards our neighbor through deed, word, or prayer. (Diary, 742)

Jesus' new commandment is clear; we are to love one another. How then do we do this on a practical level? The varied number of ways we can fulfill this are as long as they are deep. We can do it in our everyday life and work. We can donate our time and money, or goods and services. We can volunteer at a soup kitchen, or be involved in a parish social ministry. One of the areas I find rewarding is working with the homeless population. Regardless of what the social and economic causes may be for homelessness, and whether our actions may be enabling them to some extent, Jesus did command us "Give to every one who begs from you." (Lk. 6:30) To enter into the world of the homeless is to be barraged by sights, sounds, smells and struggles. It is to witness firsthand the brokenness in humanity in drug addiction and mental health sickness, and at times, crime. On the other hand, they are people just like you and me. Each homeless man or woman is a person, with an inherent dignity, made in the image of God. In their faces and bodies is Jesus. Although sometimes it is a difficult experience, I almost always feel enriched and spiritually renewed in serving them.

By Fr. Altier

Scripture:
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
St. John 13:1-15

Today we celebrate the feast on which the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood took place. It is also, therefore, the day on which Our Lord, exercising His priesthood, offered Himself as a sacrifice sacramentally. He had not yet physically sacrificed Himself, that would take place the next day, but already in the Blessed Sacrament at the Last Supper He offered himself in a sacramental form under the forms of bread and wine so that He could give Himself to His disciples in the most intimate way.

But in order to demonstrate what it was that He was doing, He first washed their feet. This is something that they did not understand. Peter, of course, objected. "You will never wash my feet," he said. But then Jesus said to him, If I do not wash your feet, you have no part of My inheritance. Now if we consider what this really means, remember that Our Lord Himself told us that He came into this world to serve and not to be served. Saint Paul says,

He took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. But even that was not enough to be able to understand what it was that He was doing because we recall that by Jewish law not even a slave could be forced to wash the feet of his master because that was considered beneath human dignity. Considering what they would have been walking through, wearing sandals and having no sanitation the way that we think of it with sewer systems and all the things underground, all of their things would have been above ground and their feet would have been pretty filthy. And absolutely no one could be required to wash the feet of someone else. So Our Lord, in order to demonstrate to His disciples the extent to which He was willing to go, lowered Himself and became less than a slave. He was willing to deny Himself in everything for the sake of those who would follow Him.

If we just consider what He does for us today, if it was not too much for Him to wash the feet of His disciples and make Himself lower than a slave, today He gives Himself to us in the form of a piece of bread. He is Almighty God, and He comes to us in a way that is so humble that unless He Himself had said it no one would believe it because, once again, it is lower than a slave. Yet He told us that we have to do the same. When we recognize what He has done for us, then He tells His disciples that they have to do the same, that we have to be willing to make ourselves less than everyone else, which He also said in other places. But if we understand it in its context, it makes perfect sense.

Recall that the two sacraments which are most closely aligned are the Eucharist and marriage; all of the symbolism is identical. And so what Jesus is requiring of Saint Peter and of the other apostles is that they had to receive the gift which Our Lord was giving, just as a married couple receives from one another the gift that is being given. When you think about it from the point of view of the giver, it is a beautiful gift but a very humble gift because it makes one completely vulnerable and places one completely at the service of the other because it is giving, not taking. But part of the gift that a married couple offers to one another is to receive the gift that the other is offering. So too with the Eucharist. If we are not willing to receive what Jesus is giving, if we try to take it instead of receive it (which is a purely selfish act, then), we have no part of Him. But if we can receive in love the gift which He gives in love, then we have part of His inheritance, then we are united, because we give ourselves to Him as a gift and we receive His gift of self to our own selves and then we become one. That is precisely what Our Lord desires for us.

But in order to become fully one, we have to give it all. We have to become less than a slave. A slave has to give to a certain point; and when the slave is giving, it is because he is being required to give. It is not that way with Christ; it must be a gift, not something which is required. So He tells us, when He says what is required, that we have to do the same – but, once again, it cannot be under force; rather it must be freely chosen, freely given, and freely received – to make ourselves completely vulnerable, to open ourselves entirely to Him. Of course, in order to do that, it means also placing ourselves at the service of others, precisely the thing He told us to do when He commanded us to love God and to love our neighbor. That is exactly what we have in the Blessed Sacrament, the example that Jesus continues to give us.

If He Who is God, He Who is Teacher and Master, is willing to do what a slave could not even be required to do, is willing to humble Himself so completely that He would give Himself to us in the form of a piece of bread so that we could actually receive Him into ourselves, then we have to look and say, "What's wrong with me that I am not willing to do the same? If God is willing to do this for me, why do I think it beneath my dignity to serve others? Why do I think it beneath my dignity to accept the ridicule of others? Why do I think it beneath my dignity to remain silent when people heap disgrace upon me? Why do I think it beneath my dignity to become a slave of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother?" That is what we need to look at. When we see that He has made Himself lower than a slave for us, that He came into this world and loved and gave Himself completely in love, what are we willing to do in return?

Again, when we look at marriage, it is not a 50-50 proposition; it is 100-100. Jesus gave one hundred percent. If we are really, really generous, maybe some of us are willing to give 60…70. That is not enough. For those of you who are married, imagine what that would be like. "I love you with half of my being." "I love you with three-quarters of myself." "I'm willing to give part of me to you." What would that do to your marriage? It would result in exactly the problem we have in marriage today: It would be a disaster.