This is what Jesus said you should also do…

Homily for Holy Thursday

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do. (Jn 13:15)

In the gospel, Jesus gives a command.  “As I have done for you, you should also do.” 

What did he do?  A disgusting, humiliating task assigned to the lowest of slaves.  He washed the dirty feet of the disciples.  He said to them, and he says to me and you.  “As I have done, you should also do.” 

You should give your life over to another out of love, even if that means performing the lowest, most humiliating task.  You should become washers of dirty feet. 

This connects with the two beautiful focal points of the Holy Thursday Mass:

• The institution of the Eucharist.  “This is my body, given for you”
• Giving yourself in love to others.  “As I have done for you, you should also do,” 

Eucharist and Self-giving go hand in hand.  We bring our sacrifice of self-giving as our to Mass as our offering.  The Eucharist gives us grace to return to a world, and if need be, wash dirty feet. 

When the priest receives the gifts of bread and wine, he says, “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father.”  The sacrifice is not just the bread and wine brought to the altar.  These represent ALL the other sacrifices we make throughout the week. 

Jesus commands that we wash the dirty feet of the world.  Who are the ‘dirty feet’?  The least among us.  The poor, the prisoners, those with mental illness, the LGBT community, the drug addicted, the homeless, the undocumented immigrant, and those who are infected by a culture that seems to have forgotten God. 

To these and more, Jesus commands us to be foot washers.  [A foot washer doesn’t give advice.  “You know if you would bathe regularily…”  A foot washer doesn’t blame the person.  “If you would buy a decent pair of shoes…”  A foot washer doesn’t try to fix the problem, “Just stop walking through the muck…”  A foot washer just washes feet.]

At the homeless shelter where I volunteer, people come to me with many needs.  Many of these are consequences from bad decisions they made.  For them, I don’t lecture or scold.  I’m just a foot washer.  I just ask myself, “If this were Jesus, would I say yes to their request?”   

A foot washer sees a need, and responds to that need with the love that flows from the Eucharist. 

A foot washer follows the attitude of Jesus, “He loved [them] in the world and he loved them to the end.”

The Lord is going to put some dirty feet in your path.  As Jesus has done for you, may you also do.  May your foot washing add a deeper meaning to your word during Mass: 

 “May the Lord accept the sacrifice [I offer], for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all the church.”