Holy Thursday is known to most Catholics for three very important things that our Lord Jesus Christ instituted. Firstly, he instituted the Holy Eucharist as today is the day of the Last Supper. Good Catholics know that in the Holy Eucharist, our Lord Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul a divinity and we've already written many articles on so-called Eucharistic Miracles… the most famous of all is the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy. In short, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Good Friday for speaking the truth did not lie when he instituted the Holy Eucharist as he has left his living presence in that simple white wafer that we take during Holy Communion.
So you may ask, can anyone raise the wafer and pray to God… and then it would suddenly transubstantiate into the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ? Of course that answer is no! This is why our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Orders so that only those people who enter the priesthood and consecrate their lives to follow our Lord Jesus Christ can bring the Lord's presence into the altar when the Holy Eucharist is "Lifted up" and consecrated and the wafer transubstantiates from a simple wafer into our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
I often hear Catholics say, "We do not need priests anymore, because I go and pray directly to God." When I hear this, I immediately correct that person because without priests, we cannot have the Holy Eucharist. It is that plain and simple…but a very important role of our priests. Sure, there are many of them who fall short of their Holy Orders… after all, priests are just like you and me… frail human beings. Ours is not to condemn, but to understand. But more importantly, our role as the Laity is to realize the importance of priests in our midst and not just dismiss them because God allowed for priests to do God's will in his church.
The 3rd and just as important teaching that our Lord Jesus Christ imparts on the Catholic faithful on Holy Thursday is written in the gospel reading today, in John 13: 1-15. It is about Servant Leadership.
"It was before the Feast of the Passover. Jesus realized that his hour had come, to pass from this world to the Father; and as he had loved those who were his own in the world, he would love them with perfect love. They were at supper, and the devil had already put into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had entrusted all things to him, and as he had come from God, he was going to God.
So he got up from the table, removed his garment and taking a towel, wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. When he came to Simon Peter, Simon asked him, "Why, Lord do you want to wash my feet?" Jesus said, "What I am doing you cannot understand now, but afterwards you will understand it." Peter replied, "You shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered him, ""If I do not wash you, you can have no part with me." Then Simon Peter said, "Lord, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." Jesus replied, "Whoever has taken a bath does not need to wash (except the feet), for he is clean all over. You are clean, though not all of you. Jesus knew who was to betray him, because of this he said, "Not all of you are clean."
When Jesus had finished washing their feet, he put on his garment again, went back to the table and said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another's feet. I have given you an example that as I have done, you may also do." This gospel story is one of the greatest teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, not just for our political leaders, but our church leaders and the so-called "Servant Leaders" of many Charismatic Communities.
Please do not misunderstand this teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about Servant Leadership… in the simple washing of the feet of his disciples. That task is easy enough to do if one has some humility. But the essential element of Servant Leadership is written in the first part of today's gospel when it was written, "And as he had loved those who were his own in the world, he would love them with perfect love."
Yes, perfect love is the key to becoming a good Servant Leader because without perfect love… being a leader becomes a chore and when your flock wants to do things for the community, you might refuse them or worse be irritated by their requests. So for your Holy Thursday reflection, please reflect on having a perfect love for one another and above all, have the humility to learn from our Lord and Master our Lord Jesus Christ that washing the feet of his disciples was done out of perfect love and humility.