Gospel & Reflection For Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper
John 13:1-15
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. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. 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.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all.”
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
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.”
Reflection
Good evening, everyone and welcome as we gather for the beginning of our Easter Triduum – our three days of accompanying Christ through His passion, death, and Resurrection. These days are not separate occasions. They combine to make one celebration, each day leading us into the other. Our Mass tonight celebrates the Last Supper, where Christ instituted the Eucharist, but this leads us into Good Friday, and Good Friday brings us to Easter, to the Resurrection.
So, one celebration, spread out over three days and these days are the most important, most beautiful, most solemn of our Church’s year. Thank you for taking this journey and celebrating with us.
There is a true story told of our late Pope, Saint John Paul II. Shortly after his election as Pope in 1979, a foreign official came to the Vatican asking to speak immediately with the new Pope about a pressing matter. The Pope’s Secretary went to his room to inform him, but he was not there. He then checked his office, his library, his private Chapel, even the kitchen and the roof! He looked everywhere one might expect to find an important world leader but could not find him.
His Secretary then went to a Priest who knew the Pope well. He said to him, “I have lost the Holy Father. I have looked everywhere and cannot find him.” The Polish Priest then asked immediately and calmly, “Did you look in the Chapel?” “Yes,” he said, “he is nowhere in sight.” “Go further in,” the Polish Priest said, “but do not turn on the light.” The Secretary went back to the Pope’s private Chapel and walked quietly further into that darkened, sacred space. There, in front of the tabernacle, lying prostrate on the floor before the Blessed Sacrament was Pope John Paul.
Laying there before the Lord in the Eucharist, Pope John Paul was not just saying his prayers. He was undoing the distance between himself and God, and in God’s presence through the Blessed Sacrament, he was acknowledging that despite his new title and the grandeur and power of the Vatican, he was first and foremost a servant of God and of His people, just as God was a servant to him and us all.
Well, this also is the profound significance of our celebration tonight.
We remember Christ first as a servant. In the Gospel, we heard how He wrapped a towel around His waist and then washed the feet of His disciples, the most lowly of tasks but done without hesitation. Through that action, Christ shows us that the path to holiness is not found in titles, positions, or power but in a willingness to be grounded in sincere and loving service of others.
Secondly, Jesus gifts us with the Eucharist. He did not leave us a symbol or a souvenir; the Lord left us Himself. Some consider God remote, cold, distant. However, nothing could be further from the truth. God is present to us always and His presence is intentional, intimate, and inspiring. Through the Eucharist, the space which we might think exists between us and God is undone. On the Altar, in communion, God makes Himself physically present to us. We are in His company, and He invites us to consume Him into our very being.
So, tonight, we go further in. Like Pope John Paul II, we close the distance between ourselves and God. We come close to Christ in a most special way, recognising that our lives are not about only about what we achieve but whom we encounter.
Tonight, and always, Jesus invites us to encounter Him. He beckons us to meet Him, to be with Him, to accept Him but also to be inspired and strengthened by Him.
He wants us to know that true strength, love, and hope are found in our lives being prostrate before the Lord in many ways – in receiving Him in the gift of the Eucharist and then in serving Him in how we love, care, and help others. We are called to become He whom we receive in the Eucharist and then to be Christ-like to others in loving service.
May we have the grace to do so, always.
Fr. Richard
