I’m struck by the night scenes in today’s readings. Exodus reading describes the nighttime preparations the Jews in slavery made as they got ready to leave their bondage in Egypt. Each time Passover would be celebrated the Israelites would recall God’s intervention on behalf of the people. The deliverance from slavery would become the heart of Israel’s faith. The people could not change the condition by themselves, but God could and God did. God is the main speaker in the text and God has plans for the people’s well-being and future.
The Passover was to be a family festival, but because the lamb was killed and eaten there are also tones of sacrifice in the observance. Passover gave identity to the people because it expressed who they were and what their God had done for them — set them free and formed a people uniquely God’s. Each time the people celebrated Passover they would remember and be renewed in their relationship to God. They would also acknowledge again and again each year that God and only God could set them free and form them into God’s own people.
What is about to happen for the Israelites will forever define them. They will be able to claim with pride and wonder, “We are the people God chose and lead out of slavery.” Moses will advise them, as they are about to cross the Jordan into the promised land, not to forget who they were and what God had done for them (8:11ff)
Paul describes another night scene when Christ instituted the Eucharist. In Corinthians Paul addressed a church divided by economic and social differences (11:17-22). Instead of drawing people together, Eucharistic celebrations only accentuated the differences in the community — certainly not the meal that Jesus modelled when he washed his disciples feet and told them to do the same, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (13:15).
Paul reminds us of Jesus’ words and actions when he quotes, “This is my body that is for you.” Reminiscent of the sacrificial tones of the Passover meal, Jesus says that he will give himself for us. How could Christians celebrate a divisive Eucharist when so much has been given us? Eucharist isn’t just a past event we remember in reverence, but a present moment when Christ gives himself to us again; enabling us to do the same for others.
Paul tells us what Jesus did the night before he died. John tells us something else that happened that night. He sets up the narrative of Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet by telling us it was an act done in love. Jesus performed the act, usually reserved for the household slaves, as a sign of his love, which would be more fully expressed by his laying down his life for us.
Peter didn’t get it; all he saw was his master humiliating himself. But Jesus tells Peter this washing would make him spiritually clean. Peter and the others needed the washing to remind them that, if they were true followers of Jesus they would, like him, have to give their lives for the sake of others.
In our bibles we will notice that some stories are given titles. For example, “The Good Shepherd.” “The Sermon on the Mount,” “The Agony in the Garden,” etc. What title would you place over this story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples? How about, “Self Giving for the Sake of Others.”
We join the disciples around the table and allow our God to be gracious to us. Once again we are on the receiving end of God’s giving. God’s mercy and goodness “pass over” us as it did the Israelites, forgiving our sins and leading us to our salvation through Jesus’ self-giving.
The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of the One who washed the feet of his disciples and gave his life for them. We come forward to receive the meal Jesus left us so that we will be washed clean and transformed into the One whose life we receive in this meal — a life of service and self giving.
This day and each time we celebrate Eucharist, is our time to remember who we were and who we are now because of what God has done for us. If we attend Mass regularly people refer to us as “practicing Catholics.” It’s not just a matter of believing, but expressing our belief in actions — the kind of action Jesus shows up today: washing the feet of our sisters and brothers.
We “practice” the way musicians practice a piece over and over again until they get it right. We continue practicing what Jesus teaches us today. We don’t get discouraged when we fail to perfectly reflect the kind of discipleship Jesus has modelled for us. But we keep practicing and the Eucharist we receive helps us keep at our attempts to do what Jesus has told us, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”