Holy Thursday – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
(Exodus 12:1-8.11-14; I Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15)
Newcomers to Catholicism should be surprised by the
selection of today’s gospel. On this evening
when the Church celebrates the institution of the Eucharist, the gospel says
nothing about it. Or so it seems. However, the Church intuits that the Gospel of
John has substituted Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet for the Eucharist as an
explanation of Eucharist’s meaning.
Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet is an act of
servitude. Slaves wash their masters’
feet. By his taking on the role, Jesus
indicates that his disciples must serve one another. This is not to say that there are masters
among them. Quite the contrary, Jesus
alone is master. The rest serve one
another in obedience to Jesus’ command. On
the following day Jesus will die on the cross as a sign of the master’s supreme servitude.
In the end we will find ourselves freed, not enslaved, as a result of serving one another. The first reading gives account of the Hebrews’ being politically freed from slavery in Egypt. On the night remembering that event, Jesus indicates that by following his command, we will find ourselves spiritually free. Sin will no longer control our hearts. We will be ready to enter the Promised Land of heaven.
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