“If I, therefore, the master and
teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
Nothing
ever comes out the way we want it to.
After a tiring day working in the church preparing for Holy Thursday,
the seminarian of my parish and I sat down for an early dinner. We had spent the day trying to make sure that
all the volunteers who showed up to prepare the church were sticking to rubrics
and guidelines. Sometimes we succeeded
and other times we failed. As we sat
down, I mentioned that amidst all the craziness at least we could now relax,
have supper, and celebrate the priesthood.
Our seminarian froze and said to me, “I’m sorry Father, I haven’t wished
you a Happy Feast Day on this Holy Thursday.
I guess sometimes we forget what’s really important.” We said a prayer of blessing and throughout
dinner I kept thinking about his words.
We really do forget what is truly important and get distracted by things
that while they may be important aren’t as important as what we celebrate
today: the institution of the Eucharist
and the Priesthood.
All
we need is right there on the altar.
Everything else just distracts us from the reality that Jesus is truly
here present among us. Tonight is
different from other nights because we celebrate what our Lord did for us
during that Last Supper. Not only did he
give us the gift of himself in the Eucharist, but he who is Master and Lord
knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples in a remarkable act of service
and love. This is what is
important. This is what we are called to
imitate. And on this Holy Thursday
night, we also recall Christ’s agony.
Not just the agony in the garden that happened after the Last Supper,
but think of the agony Christ felt during that meal. He knew that one of his disciples, one his
closest friends, one of “his own” was about to betray him. Think about that for a second. He knew that Judas was going to lead him to a
very violent death. He loved Judas like
he loves each one of us. Imagine the
agony that Jesus felt in his heart knowing that one of “his own” was going to
hand him over to die. And despite all
this, Jesus still washed Judas’ feet. “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the
end.” (John 13:1)
In
a few moments, I will kneel down as the Lord did and wash the feet of twelve of
our parishioners. The world may see this
as degrading. I see it as an honor. But let’s switch places for a moment and look
at this scene from the eyes of Peter who did not want his feet to be washed by
Jesus. This happened to me in the
infancy of my priesthood. I was
attending a women’s prayer meeting as they were preparing for a retreat. I was sitting in a corner listening to them
as they talked about service. To
emphasize how important their service was the leader of the retreat went around
the room washing everyone’s feet. I was
trying to go unnoticed but finally, she placed the bowl at my feet. I became like Peter. I looked down on her with a puzzled face as
if to say, “Wait a second, I’m the priest.
I’m the one that does the foot washing.”
She looked up at me and lovingly said, “Father, let yourself be
served.” I took off my shoes, and she
washed my feet. Tears were streaming
down my eyes because I realized that as much as priests love their people, it
is nothing compared to how much the people of God love their priests. Unworthy as we are, today we priests are reminded
that we are called to put pride and ambition aside and simply serve you. I cried that day because I wish I had the
faith of those women. I wish I had the
faith of some of you. Yes, I do consider
myself of man of faith or else I would have nothing to share with you from this
pulpit, but I marvel at the faith of the people I serve daily. Through your rosaries, novenas, chaplets,
stations, adoration, Mass attendance, and communion, you inspire your priests
to work that much harder for you and to work for what is truly important: to make this Christ who gave of himself this
night more present to you. On this Holy
Thursday night, I thank God for my priesthood and for the gift of the
Eucharist, but I also give thanks for the gift I have in all of you who allow
me on a daily basis to wash your feet.
