We kneel before Jesus and one Another.

Holy Thursday “On the night he was betrayed”…. Every time we celebrate Eucharist we use those words. Every time we approach that moment when Christ comes to us in bread and wine, we begin by reminding ourselves that Christ did this “on the night he was betrayed.” In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke they tell the story of the last supper. They give us the details of what Jesus did “on the night he was betrayed.” They tell us of bread and wine, of blessing and breaking, of giving thanks and sharing. But not in John’s Gospel. John doesn’t recount the events of what happened “on the night he was betrayed” he doesn’t mention the bread and wine. Instead of telling us what Jesus did, John tells us what it means. And so “on the night he was betrayed” Jesus was aware of everything. He knew that the end was near. He knew that Judas had betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver, he knew that Peter would deny him not once but three times, he knew that, Andrew, James, Matthew and the others would abandon him. They would, by their actions, each one would deny him. Jesus knew all of this and what did he do? We can only imagine the heaviness in Jesus’ heart. Looking at his friends that he knew would abandon him. Jesus knew this was the hour…this was the time the work of redemption would happen. He must have felt alone and rejected and at that moment when most of us would abandon ourselves to anger and despair….when most of us would be so unforgiving for the hurt and betrayal that was at hand….Jesus did the unthinkable. He bent down and assuming the duty of the lowest of the slaves, he washed the feet of his disciples. He poured out the water not only of service but also of forgiveness. He cleansed and kissed their feet with the love of God that is so profound that it cuts through all our pettiness, all our prejudice, all our anger, all our hurts and all our resentments….He washed the feet of Judas, he washed those of Peter, Andrew and James and Matthew all 12 of them. On Holy Thursday we are told that the liturgy is supposed to remember three events: the institution of the Priesthood, the gift of the eucharist and the call to be men and women of service. But really the things are really one. Priesthood is about service, the Eucharist is about love. On this Holy Thursday we are called to do two very simple acts. We are called to kneel before Christ in prayerful reverence of the Eucharist and then to kneel before Christ in humble service to our sisters and brothers. And we can never do one without doing the other. For the day we kneel in prayerful reverence before Christ but fail to kneel before Christ in humble service to our brothers and sister, we fail to grasp what Christ and the Eucharist is all about. If we are servants to one another but forget our love of Jesus we are merely good servants. “The night he was betrayed” is tonight. Tonight begins our journey of faith, our passing over from death to life. But it is Christ who marks the journey. Our journey begins in prayerful reverence before Christ but must continue in service of one another. Tonight we will process with the Eucharist, we will kneel in adoration before Jesus present in the blessed bread, but we also must kneel in service before one another. Spouses must kneel in service to one another, parents to their children, children to the parents. We must be a community of service to one another, especially to the poorest, most vulnerable and all those excluded from society. It is in washing each other’s feet that God’s love cleanses our world of hatred and prejudice, of fear and resentment, of a coldness of heart that knows not the profound love that God showed us on this “the night he was betrayed.” This homily is based in a homily I found on the website of the Ithaca Catholic community. https://www.iccatholicchurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Holy-Thursday-Year-B-2012.pdf