Mass of the Lord’s Supper Part 1 of Triduum 2021 April 1, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Good vs. Evil, Obedience, Freedom, Hope, Perfection. These were the themes of our Lenten journey through the fundamentals, a journey that ended with us crucifying Christ this past Sunday. But now we begin a different journey. Lent is over, but tonight begins the Triduum. It is a single liturgy that spans three days, a continual act of worship that takes us through the Last Supper, Christ’s death, and then to his resurrection. So the homilies will be a series, a zoomed in focus on the conclusions of Lent. What is perfection? It is to be made complete according to the Lord’s purpose. Fine, but what does that mean?
“Where I am, there also will my servant be.” Just days before the Last Supper, Jesus speaks this words when he finds out that the Greeks are looking for him. He also prophesies what we begin tonight, speaking of wheat that dies to bear fruit, of glorifying the Father’s name, and of drawing all men to himself. He’s talking about the crucifixion, of course. But becoming perfect and even converting others to become perfect is not as simple as pointing at a crucifix and saying, “here’s the meaning of life.” It is a process, one that each of us must live and relive. And we can see the beginning of that here.
Jesus does not start by being crucified. He starts with encounter, with kindness, with friendship. The height of that is this supper, a meal he says he “earnestly desired” to share with the apostles. And this is true despite the fact that one of them is a traitor. That’s where perfection begins for you, for me. An encounter with a person who earnestly desires to share a meal with us, to share friendship.
It’s interesting that, on the night we celebrate the very institution of the Eucharist, the gospel actually doesn’t mention it. When I say that perfection starts with this meal with Christ, I’m sure most people jump immediately to the idea of receiving the Eucharist in communion. But that’s not what I mean. As important as it is, it is not where the encounter starts. It is too easy to reduce communion to a mechanical act, a thoughtless ritual. Just walk up, pop the host in my mouth, and move on. Might as well leave right after to beat the traffic…
The Eucharist is the consummation of personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is essential and John tells us it is necessary for eternal life. But simply chewing on a host is, well, too easy. On the very same night Jesus Christ gives us the Eucharist, he chooses to wash the feet of his disciples. This points to where perfection begins.
On one level, letting someone wash your feet is simple. It might even feel empowering. Yet we see Peter resist. Why? Because, like communion, this physical act is more than physical. What Jesus does is symbolic of something that is much harder: accepting God’s love.
Most people instinctively acknowledge that God exists. In a post-Christian world, most people have also heard of the idea that God loves them. But most people don’t really believe it. God is too big, too distant for that to seem real. Perhaps they imagine him as passively watching and judging, but not as involved. Perhaps they assume they aren’t worthy of God’s love. Perhaps they’re a little jaded by experiences with Christians who don’t seem to act much like Christ. Perhaps they just aren’t good at connecting the idea of God with the experience of being loved by him. In short, for most people in our culture, religion is a set of ideas and rules, but it’s not a relationship.
Yet the very definition of religion requires relationship. Religion is the virtue that guides and structures your relationship to God. If there is no relationship between you and God, there is nothing to guide, nothing to structure. Religion with relationship is not a religion, it is a philosophy at best and a delusion at worst. Jesus Christ didn’t wash feet, die, then rise from the dead to give us a philosophy. He came to wash our feet, to make us perfect, to be in a relationship with us.
But that can be frightening. If Jesus Christ, if God is a person in my life who has a relationship with me, it affects my life. Other people complicate things, change plans, challenge perspectives. If that other person is also God, it changes everything. It’s like the difference between a book and a baby. You can read a book and put it down, but a baby will cry, will react, will make demands. That’s why God became a baby, because he wasn’t satisfied with us having a book.
That baby grew up. He walked into people’s lives uninvited and unexpected. He healed some. He challenged others. Sometimes he seemed to be the epitome of kindness. Other times he seemed rude and even insulting. He made choices that forced people around him to deal with him. Some chose to accept what he did, others rejected it. He wants to wash Peter’s feet and Peter is afraid of that. Why? A false respect.
We should be reverent. A healthy fear of God is necessary. But respect for God can also become an obstacle. We can use respect like a shield to keep him out of the messy parts of our life. A false respect for God can cause us to hide our sins and needs from him. Peter’s respect for Jesus causes him to miss the point. He wants to see Jesus as above him and beyond the place of washing feet. This distance can be comforting. If I’m going to follow this guy, it’s more comfortable thinking he’s beyond such lowly things as footwashing or, you know, dying… To accept this humbling act can make us vulnerable.
Friendship requires a kind of equality. If Jesus can wash my feet, I have to wash others. But it goes deeper. If Jesus washes my feet, if he lowers himself to my level, then he must expect me to rise up to his. If Jesus is like me enough to wash my feet, I have to be like him and he is… perfect. Exactly.
So perfection begins not with a resolution or a philosophy. It begins with accepting the humbling love of God, of encountering him as a person whose presence in my life is real, not an idea. Have you encountered Jesus Christ? Not do you believe in him, or do you agree with him. Do you know him? Can you point to a time in your life where you experienced his presence? His loving gaze? Heard his words audibly or in your heart? Feelings are not everything… they are certainly not the most important thing, but they do matter. Have you felt the love of God?
If you want your life to mean anything, if you want happiness… then you want the perfection a life made complete. If you want perfection, then you need to encounter Jesus Christ. If you already have, recall those moments and pray for them to be strengthened and renewed. If you have not, then ask him. Ask him to step into your life, to speak to you, to heal you, to affect you. Get your feet washed by going to confession. Allow him to dine with you by receiving communion in a state of grace – please do not receive if you have serious sin because that will have the opposite effect. Talk to the Lord honestly as a friend.
If the crucifixion is going to be possible, if the resurrection that follows is going to be possible, if our salvation and the salvation of our family and friends is going to be possible, then we must first know, really know Jesus Christ’s love for us. This is the reason Christ establishes the priesthood on this night. It is the reason I exist as a priest. It is the reason the Eucharist is given to us. It is the reason we are called to wash the feet of others. Love is not an idea. It is a person, and that person is here for you. Will you accept that?
See Part II here.