Familiar feet (24/03/2016)
Careful attention should be given to the mysteries that are commemorated in this Mass: the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood, and Christ’s command of brotherly love; the homily should explain these points. Paschalis Sollemnitatis – January16, 1988[1]
John, in telling us about the last few hours of Jesus with his disciples and gathering the “conversations from the Last Supper”, does not tell us of Jesus’ last actions and words over the bread and wine as the other evangelists – or St. Paul, in his very ancient Epistle to the Corinthians (53 AD) – do. On the other hand, John tells us of another action, the washing of the feet, which is not reported by any of the other evangelists, and defines it as “loving to the end” (John 13, 1). For John, the washing of the feet enlightens the words that Jesus had said a few moments earlier: This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me (Luke 22, 19). And it is crucial to understand this, given that, straight after this, Jesus would say: I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you (John 13, 34)
In the ancient Oriental tradition, it was customary that a guest would be offered some water so that he could wash off the dust that would have covered his sandal-clad feet during his travelling. However, a text of Judaism that comments on Exodus would explicitly warn that the washing of the feet could not be demanded, not even in the case of a slave washing the feet of his master or his master’s guest.
You, one another… Whose feet did Jesus wash? The feet of his closest ones. His Twelve. Jean Vanier points out that «when Jesus institutes the Eucharist, he speaks to the disciples as a whole, while, when he kneels and washes their feet, he does so individually to each disciple, touching his flesh». So these were familiar feet. Not the feet of poor or sick men, but rather of men he would have spent time with on a daily basis. The toughest commandment of all. It is God himself who defines who that “you” is. It is Twelve, not Thirteen. These and not those. How many times have I seen generic passions for those far away, the last ones? Spectacular displays of enthusiasm for charity work. Anything, provided that it be far away. We can forgive much to those who are far from us, as we have nothing to forgive them. Paternalistic and lenient outside our doors, yet never with our husband or wife. Do-gooders when we step out of our home or with those far from us, yet never good with your fellow believers. People who look at the world with Irenicism and optimism, yet forgives nothing to their own priests. Coldly tolerant with the social outcast, yet ruthless with my own neighbour whose every single “i” gets dotted and “t” crossed.
This very evening, Jesus institutes priesthood for the celebration of the Eucharist. How many have I met who sing to the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament, while forgetting the reason why this True Body and Blood is given to us? It is a medicament to help us living the most radical commandment of Christ. It is the Grace that we need for living the deepest love of all: daily love, love in our everyday. Christ does not ask us to love man or mankind. Way too easy. Too chic. Too upper-class. A sacrament that unleashes its power in order for us to live the most difficult thing of all: loving my neighbour. Adore this night in order to love those, whose wrinkles, unpristine morals, flaws and compulsive habits we know well just because life put them firmly next to us. For a Christian, “life” is the Provident Will of the Father. A thousand times we wonder whether itty-bitty facts are a manifestation of God’s Will, and yet we take no interest in a definite Will, i.e. the people that God chooses for walking and living by our side every day. Children often ask: where is God? Ubi Caritas est vera Deus ibi est (tr. Where true charity is, there is God). It is God who makes us – the priests – priests, and he does so for this: for giving the Body of Christ who alone can incept into history a Love that is capable of making God visible.
by Fr. Maurizio Botta C.O.
[1] Paschalis Sollemnitatis – Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts – Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (January 16, 1988), http://archive.wf-f.org/PaschalisSollemnitatis.html
