First Reading (Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14)
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it. The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. "This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the Lord. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first-born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt -- I, the Lord! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution."
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18)
Refrain: Our blessing-cup is a communion with the blood of Christ.
1) How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
2) Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds.
3) To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people.
Second Reading (1 Cor 11: 23-26)
Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, ook bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
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.”
Copyright 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Copyright 1970, 1997, 1998 Contraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
The English translation of some Psalm responses, some Alleluia and Gospel verses and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, some Summaries, and the Titles and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass copyright 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Washington D.C. All rights reserved.
The poetic English translation of the sequences of the Roman Missal are taken from the Roman Missal approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, copyright 1964 by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Inc. All rights reserved.
Resources:
- Days of the Lord, Volume 3, pp. 14-22. Copyright 1991 by the Order of Saint Benedict. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN.
-The Lord's Supper. From The Letters to the Corinthians, copyright 1975 by William Barclay. Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- The Messiah Who Cares About Feet. From Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville, TN. 37922.
- The Lord's Supper, Your Supper From Still Proclaiming Your Wonders, pp. 61-66. Copyright 1984 by Walter J. Burghardt. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ.
- I Have Given You An Example From Still Proclaiming Your Wonders, pp. 67-73. Copyright 1984 by Walter J. Burghardt. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ.
- Holy (Maundy) Thursday (C), by Grant M. Gallup (John 13: 1-15) and Patrick Kiefert (Luke 22: 7-20). Copyright 1989 by Pueblo Publishing Company, New York, New York and 1991 by the Order of St. Benedict, Collegeville, MN. From Homilies for the Christian People, pp. 442-447, the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN.
-Holy (Maundy) Thursday (C) by Reginald H. Fuller. Copyright 1984 by the Order of St. Benedict. From Preaching the Lectionary, pp. 418-419, the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN.
-Holy Thursday (Psalm 116). From Sing a New Song, by Irene Nowell, pp. 111. Copyright 1993 by the Order of St. Benedict. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN.
- Holy Thursday, copyright 1990 by William J. Bausch. From Timely Homilies, pp. 144-147. Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, CT 06355.
- Holy Thursday, copyright 1996 by William J. Bausch. From Storytelling the Word, pp. 268-270. Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, CT 06355.
The Meal of Equality and Service
In the second reading this past Sunday, we heard Paul's words to the Philippians: "Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men." We have no better example of what Paul was talking about than what our Lord did in today's gospel from John.
We have to realize that "the roads of Palestine were not paved. In dry weather they were full of dust and in wet they were liquid mud. The shoes ordinary people wore were sandals, which were simply soles held on to the foot by a few straps. They gave little protection against the dust or the mud of the roads. For that reason there were always great waterpots at the door of a house; and a servant was there with a water jug and a towel to wash the soiled feet of the guests as they came in. Jesus' little company of friends had no servants. The duties which servants would carry out in wealthier circles they must have shared among each other. But as we heard this past Sunday in Luke's account of the Passion, the disciples got into an argument during the Last Supper about who among them was the greatest. It may well be that they had gotten themselves into such a state of competitive pride that not one of them would accept the duty of washing one another's feet; and Jesus mended their omission in the most vivid and dramatic way." (1)
As Paul has reminded us, Jesus humbled himself, forsook his divinity and became one like us. On Sunday, in Luke's gospel, we heard Jesus tell the disciples at the very beginning of the Last Supper "I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Even though he knew that he would still have to teach his disciples how to love one another even to the very end, he was still eager to share this meal with them. This was the extent of his love for them. And the example which he has given us demonstrated once and for all that in order to get closer to God, we must get closer to one another. (1)
Why did the Creator of all, the Word who was with God, the Word who was God, humble himself to wash the feet of his disciples, disciples who refused to wash one another's feet? Because Jesus saw himself in them. He knew that the Spirit had not descended on them yet and had not made clear to them all that he had done. Their minds were still clouded by sin. They did not see with opened eyes, with the eyes of love. He saw them with all their weaknesses and yet loved them because he knew that someday their eyes would be opened and they would understand all that he had done and that they would work tirelessly to spread the good news of his coming to all the ends of the earth. Out of their weakness would come strength, the strength which would become the foundation of the church of which he was the cornerstone.
Jesus was showing them (as they would come to understand later) that they are all equal when they gather around the table of the Lord. If the Creator could wash the feet of his created, should not his creatures wash the feet of one another in equality? If the Creator could serve his creatures, should not we, the created, serve one another in equality? If Jesus saw himself in his creatures, shouldn't we see him in one another?
- It happened one day at the year's white end -
Two neighbors called on their old-time friend;
And they found the shop, so meager and mean,
Made merry with a hundred boughs of green.
Conrad, the cobbler, was stitching, his face ashine,
But suddenly stopped as he twitched a twine;
"Old friends, good news! At dawn today,
As the roosters were scaring the night away,
The Lord appeared in a dream to me,
And said, 'I am coming your Guest to be!'
So I've been busy with feet astir
Strewing the floor with branches of fir.
The wall is washed and the shelf is shined,
And over the rafter the holly twined.
He comes today, and the table is spread
With milk and honey and wheaten bread."
His friends went home; and his face grew still
As he watched for the shadow across the sill.
He lived all the moments o'er and o'er,
When the Lord should enter the lowly door-
The knock, the call, the latch pulled up,
The lighted face, the offered cup.
He would wash the feet where the spikes had been,
He would kiss the hands where the nails went in,
And then at the last would sit with Him
And break the bread as the day grew dim.
While the cobbler mused, there passed his pane
A beggar drenched by the driving rain.
He called him in from the stony street
And gave him shoes for his bruised feet.
The beggar went and there came an old woman,
Her face with wrinkles of sorrow sewn.
A bundle of coal bowed her back,
And she was spent with the wrench and the rack.
He gave her his loaf and steadied her load
As she took her way on the weary road.
Then to his door came a little child,
Lost and afraid in the world so wild,
In the big, dark world. Catching her up
He gave her the milk in the waiting cup.
And led her home to her mother's arms,
Out of reach of the world's alarms.
The day went down in the crimson west,
And with it the hope of the blessed Guest,
And Conrad sighed as the world turned gray:
"Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay?
Did you forget that this was the day?"
Then soft in the silence a voice he heard:
"Lift up your heart, for I kept my word.
Three times I came to your friendly door;
Three times my shadow was on your floor.
I was the beggar with bruised feet;
I was the old woman you gave food to eat;
I was the child on the nameless street" (2)
Just as our Lord looked beyond the weakness of the disciples to the goodness that lay within each one of them, so must we look beyond the human weakness in one another to the goodness that lies within. No where is this more apparent than as we gather around the table and share the one Bread and the one Cup. Once we have shared this meal of equality, we must go and share that equality by serving one another as Christ humbled himself to serve us. For he came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
1. The Royalty of Service & The Essential Washing, from The Gospel of John, copyright 1975 by William Barclay. Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. Reprinted with permission.
2. The Great Guest in Rhyme. Reprinted with permission from Sower's Seeds Aplenty, Fourth Planting, p. 30-32. Copyright 1996 by Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R, Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ 07430. (This resource, as well as a package of all six of Brian's Sower's Seeds books, is available at a discount through the Homiletic Resource Center.)
(Copyright 2016 by the Spirit through Deacon Sil Galvan, with a little help from the friend noted above. Permission is freely granted for use, in whole or in part, in oral presentations. For permission to use in writing, please contact the human intermediary at deaconsil@comcast.net.)
March 28, 2024
Lord Jesus, you humbled yourself and became one like us. Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, you came not to be served, but to serve. Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you gave us an example and, as you did, so must we also do. Lord, have mercy.
Celebrant: Christ humbled himself and became one like us. Therefore, in confidence that he will intercede for us, we bring our prayers to the Father.
Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer."
That the leaders of the Church will be examples of God's love to all Christian believers, we pray to the Lord.
That our caring concern will show the compassion of Christ to all those who suffer from poverty, loneliness and sickness, we pray to the Lord.
That our celebration of the Eucharist will unite us with all our Christian brethren throughout the world, we pray to the Lord.
That the members of the parish will answer the Lord's call to serve those in need in our local community, we pray to the Lord.
That the presence of those about to receive Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist at the the Easter Vigil may help us to renew our own faith, we pray to the Lord.
That all of our brothers and sisters will be treated as our equals in the sight of God regardless of their race, color, nationality or religion, we pray to the Lord.
For all of the intentions which we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant: Gracious Father, your Son gave us an example of how to love and serve our brothers and sisters by washing the feet of his disciples. Grant us the grace of your Spirit to make his example active in our lives. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.