The beginning of the Sacred Triduum always moves me, especially when the priest gets down on his knees and washes the feet of disciples. This reenactment of the mandate of our Lord from the Gospel reminds us of how we should be living our lives as Christians. “I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” While we do this literally in our liturgy and, in some cases, have the opportunity the wash the feet of others in the real world, it means more than just the physical act of washing feet. It means being humble enough to serve others, even when we don’t feel like it. When we are tired, worn out, and want to sit down… our thoughts should always be, how can I serve those around me, those I love, and even those on the other end of the aisle.
Easy enough to do when we are enamored with someone. New love often has us doing things for the other at the drop of a hat. A new relationship shows a suitor rushing to get their love a drink or something to eat. As time goes on, we often show our love in different ways, but we can also fall out of the habit of ‘wooing’ the one we love. The same with our relationship with Jesus. It requires work, and sometimes? We encounter Jesus in those distressing disguises that make it very hard to want to serve him, make it hard even to see Him in the other. God Himself, the most powerful and magnificent being in the Universe, the uncreated deity worth of all worship and praise, knelt and washed the dirt and grime off the feet of men who would run away, even the man who would betray Him to death. How much more so should we, as disciples, put our hubris and ego to the side and kneel before the image of Christ in the other and try to serve them? To love them. To help them find a way to wash away the grime of this world, that they too might experience salvation and communion with Jesus Christ for eternity.
We, too, spend the night in adoration; we sit before Christ in the Eucharist, trying to stay awake as disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is a day to remind us just how immense a gift the Eucharist is to us and that it’s not just for us to hold inside of us selfishly once we receive Christ into our hearts and bodies in Holy Communion. Instead, we are supposed to go into the world as a little Christ, dying to ourselves and pouring ourselves out for them… the “they” of our lives… the other. The people on the outside of the edge, the ones in the margin with no voice to be heard. Because that’s what washing feet means… it means getting down into the grime of this world to help others get out of it.
Let us pray that our souls may cry out with the Psalmist as we go into the world, seeking to live a life of humility and love, working for the salvation of every person we encounter. “I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. To you will I offer a 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.”
A reflection on the readings for Holy Thursday: 4/14/2022