THE prime example

 

In the readings for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday), we see many examples of how to live our lives, including Jesus doing something extraordinary to set an example for all of us.

In a reading from Exodus, the Lord tells Moses and Aaron how to celebrate the Passover, giving them instructions about preparing the lamb for dinner, the herbs and bread.  Then the Lord tells them to eat “with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand … like those who are in flight.” [Exodus 12:1-14]

In John’s gospel, we see Jesus offer a new set of instructions for us.  As He and His disciples gathered for their Passover dinner, John tells us “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.” [John 13:1-15] This moving line on the night before His death reminds us of how deep His love for us is.

During the supper, Jesus, their rabbi and teacher, got up from the table, took off His cloak and knelt on the floor to wash the feet of each of them.  We can imagine their incredulous discomfort as this man they loved and looked up to, took on the most humbling role of a servant for them.  As He knelt on the stone floor in front of each one of them, He took their well-worn feet, calloused, bruised and perhaps still dusty, into His hands.  They may have watched, squirming slightly, as He poured water over each foot and carefully washed it, drying it tenderly with the towel around His waist.

When He returned to the table He asked if they recognized “what I have done for you?  I have given you a model to follow.”  Jesus has set the prime example for us of how we are to live our lives, as servants.  “As I have done for you, you should also do.”

Pope Francis has given us a modern version of this powerful example.  Since his papacy began ten years ago, he started a tradition of washing the feet of those who are outcasts among us.  He has celebrated this Mass in a youth prison, a center for elderly and disabled people and a detention center on the edge of Rome.  In those places, the successor of Peter washed the tattooed, swollen and sometimes disfigured feet of these marginalized men and women, kissing each foot tenderly before moving on to the next person.  One year, as detained men and women wept openly, 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.”

The power of this night comes for me when I experience the connection between the foot washing and the Eucharist.  The way He gives His body and blood to me is the way He wants me to give my body and blood for others.  When I receive the Eucharist in my hands, I want to hear Him say, “Do this in memory of me.”  And, when I hold His broken and poured out body in my hands to feed me, I’ll think of my wife, my children, my grandchildren and how I can love them more.  If I let myself enter the moment deeply, I will also think about all the people in the world whose cries I don’t let myself hear very often. 

As I receive Jesus’ example and allow Him to wash me, feed me and show me how to wash the feet of others, I’ll remember the example of this One who loves and forgives me endlessly.  And I’ll leave Mass, praying to see with the eyes of Jesus and to recognize those on the margins as men and women who have had difficult lives and are endlessly deserving of my love and care.