Homily Holy Thursday - April 6, 2023

 Readings can be found here.

            Each year, my family gathers at my mother’s house for Palm Sunday and Good Friday.  She spends all day cooking and getting the table ready.  There are usually at least 3 courses to dinner: appetizers, pasta, then the main part of the meal.  And, of course, coffee, fruit, and dessert afterwards.  From the moment the meal begins, my mother runs around doing the serving, clearing dishes between courses, making sure everyone has enough to eat.  She barely sits down to eat herself.  We tell her every year to sit and enjoy the meal, we can help with the serving and the clearing.  But she doesn’t listen.  She’ll finally sit during coffee and relax.  Then, as we’re getting ready to leave, she’ll always ask us, “what else can I give you?”  We can never leave without a box full of leftovers.

            Jesus gathered with his disciples for the Passover meal.  He knew it would be the last one he’d celebrate with them.  You would expect that Jesus would be treated as a guest of honor by the disciples.  They acknowledged Him as their Lord and master.  Yet, Jesus served them.  He served them His Body and His Blood when he instituted the Eucharist.  We too receive this gift each time we celebrate Mass.  But Jesus served the disciples in another powerful way at that meal.  He washed their feet.

            The washing of feet was considered the lowest, most humiliating task a servant could do.  It was reserved for the very least of servants.  Yet Jesus removed his garments, put a towel around His waist, and performed this task for His followers.  Peter understood on one level what Jesus was doing.  He initially refused to have his Lord perform such a lowly task.  Jesus tells us He is giving us a model to follow.  To be a follower of Jesus, we need to humble ourselves and serve others as Jesus served His disciples.  We should consider others as greater than ourselves.  What does it mean to humble ourselves?  It begins with recognizing that all that we have is a gift from God.  Our talents, successes, families, even our very lives are gifts.

            We’re called to use these gifts to serve others, especially those less fortunate than we.  Who in our lives can we serve?  Perhaps there’s a fellow student that needs help with classwork, or just needs a friend.  A coworker may be struggling with their responsibilities and needs encouragement.  We can donate food or clothing to help those in our community that don’t have enough.  There may be a family member with whom we need to reconcile.  However we serve, we should do so in a spirit of giving, not seeking anything in return.

            We should also be open to doing more when asked of us.  At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples a great deal.  And still He gave more.  Jesus knew that He was going to the Cross.  He was willing to give up all He had, his very life, to save us from our sins.  We need to be more like Jesus, serving and giving of ourselves to others.  We’ll receive blessings that greatly surpass what we’ve given.

Nothing makes my mother happier than to feed others a huge meal and then send them off with food to take home.  We should serve others in that same spirit.  Give generously in whatever we do.  Once we’ve given generously, we should be ready to ask the question, “what else can I give you?”  Jesus gave us the greatest gift in order to save us, His Body and Blood.  We’re asked to do as Jesus did.  Whose feet can we wash?  What else can we give?