Jesus’ Will: Service of Worship and Service of Neighbour

Homily for Holy Thursday 2015

Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15

Introduction

Do you have a will?  That is what the priests of New Orleans were asked last Thursday during a short seminar held right here at St. Maria Goretti.  The speakers explained why having a will is important.  

First a will removes the potential of your relatives fighting over your property after you die.  

Secondly, a will avoids giving the state of Louisiana the right to divide up your hard-earned money.  For example, if you die without a will the law of the state might give most of it to that good-for-nothing son rather than to the daughter who has taken care of you in your last days and perhaps even needs the money more.

And so, they highly recommended that we all make a will.  Most people who have wills leave their property for a spouse, children, relatives and friends, even your former school and your church.  And if I may take this golden opportunity to make a small pitch here, consider remembering the mission churches, where Father Cyril and I come from, in your will.

Scripture and Theology

Jesus also left us a will and a testament; but his was quite very different from ours.  As St. Paul tells us, the Lord Jesus, “became poor although he was rich” (2 Cor. 8:9) and so he had nothing material to leave behind.  But the Lord had something much more valuable; salvation, life with God in heaven for eternity.  And so his last will left instructions on how to get a share of that precious life with God.  Tonight, on Holy Thursday, we remember in a special way, the two instructions he left for us his brothers and sisters, his friends, which show us the way to the Father: the service of the Eucharist and the service of our Neighbour.

St. Paul writing to the Corinthians as we heard in today’s second reading summarized for us this first instruction from the Lord’s will.  As we know Paul was not present at the Last Supper; but he was told:

that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,

took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said,

“This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

St. Paul goes on to add:

In the same way [he] also [took] the cup, after supper, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

In these words Jesus very clearly and plainly states what he wants his followers to do after he is gone: to take, bless and eat bread and drink from the cup, which are his body and his blood.  And so when we come to Mass, we are doing nothing but obeying a direct command of our Lord and Master.

But why does Jesus want us to do this?  St. Paul tells us why:  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,” he says, “you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”  In other words the bread and wine we drink are not mere bread and mere wine.  They are the Body and Blood of Jesus given in death on the cross for our salvation.  When we share that Body and Blood, we also share in his sacrifice which brings us to salvation.

You see, we human beings are kind of dumb; yes, I said we are dumb.  We are not as smart as the angels, who have the ability to know God directly.  We human beings need reminders, signs and symbols to help us understand and appreciate spiritual things.  That is why our liturgy is full of signs and symbols of the divine things; or as some put it, the bells, yells and smells.

Even the people of Israel needed such a reminder of the salvation God had given them when he freed them from Egypt.  We heard in the First Reading that on the night before they were to leave Egypt, they too ate a Last Supper, consisting of a lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  This meal was supposed to symbolize their passage from slavery to freedom that was to begin the next day.  And God commanded them to celebrate this meal, the Passover, every year, so that all generations would experience in a real way, the saving work of God for them.

We Christians are far more fortunate.  In this meal the Lord has left for us in his will, he himself is present under the form of bread and wine.  It is like he never left us; he is still here with us every time we celebrate the Eucharist.  And because he is with us in the Eucharist, he puts us on the sure path to salvation.

But the Eucharist is not enough.  On that same night, Jesus left in his will a second instruction, an equally important means of getting to heaven, which is service of neighbour.  We heard how Jesus removed his outer garments and washed the feet of his disciples, despite the loud protestations of Peter.  And then Jesus concluded:

“Do you realize what I have done for you?

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.

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.”

Just like he said of the bread and wine, “do this in remembrance of me,” now Jesus says about service: “as I have done for you, you should also do.”

As Christians we are therefore called upon, not only to come to the service of worship, but also to perform the service of neighbour, especially the poor and needy.  At the end of Mass, the priest or deacon dismisses us with these words:

·        Go and announce the gospel of the Lord.

·        Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.

These words tell us that after we have fulfilled the first instruction of Jesus’ last will by coming to Mass, we must go and fulfil the second instruction of the will by announcing the gospel and glorifying the Lord by our life.  In fact, you might say that the second instruction, serving neighbour, is much more demanding since it involves washing the feet of whoever needs us, whenever and wherever they are.

·        Husbands wash the feet of their wives, some of them literally, but most by being faithful and loving husbands; and wives do the same thing to their husbands.

·        Parents wash the feet of their children, literally when they are young, but even better by nurturing them into God-fearing men and women.

·        Even at work, we do wash the feet of our clients, bosses and subordinates when we take our jobs seriously and do them only as a Christian would.

·        But mostly we wash the feet of those who have nobody else to wash their feet: the poor, the elderly, the sick, prisoners, the hungry, the thirsty.  In caring for those who appear to be beneath us and not in our circles, we imitate Jesus most closely, since he who was Lord and Master, washed the feet of his disciples and students.

Christian Life and Conclusion

My dear friends, we all take seriously the dying words of our parents and dear friends.  How much more we should take seriously the dying words of our Lord, who implores us to carry out two forms of service: the Eucharist and neighbour.

It is easy enough to know where and when to celebrate the Eucharist; but how are we to know when and where to wash the feet of others?  Let us always keep our eyes open to see where the need is; let us keep our ears open to hear cries for help; and let us keep our hearts and minds open to all who need to be served.  The Lord himself will show us how we are to be of service to others, loving them as he has loved us on the Cross.