Holy Thursday, April 9, 2020

Theme: How did Jesus show love and forgiveness? How do we?

John 13:1-15

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, having loved those who were his in the world, loved them to the end. They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ’Never!’ said Peter. ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said, ’Well then, Lord, not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has had a bath needs washing, such a person is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are’.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’, he said, ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.

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Companions for the Journey

(source unknown)

Jesus is saying this: “you want to know what we’re doing at this last supper? By my taking bread and wine, this cup, and sharing it among you, by my washing of the feet, I want you to understand what the eucharist would mean. The eucharist would be forever a living symbol that I am in your midst urging you to do that service, When I take this bread and say, ’Look, this is my body, and it’s broken for you. This is the cup of my blood shed for you.’ And so the Christian community should do that as well.”

So this is the holiest night of the year, as it were, the time when Christians harken back to almost 2000 years ago; into a room which was less than half the size of most churches, with apostles gathered like ourselves, and the twelve represented by these participants tonight. And we have met in order to remember what eucharist means.

Jesus, in our midst, urges us “Take your body and give it for others, and break it for others, in love. Take the cup of your blood and pour it and empty it, and hold it out and help restore others so that fractured humankind may be whole again. Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do it, truly, in memory of me.”

My friends, let us try to put ourselves back into that room. Let’s pretend that we’re there and Jesus has just washed our feet, and we’re ashamed, but now we have the message. And during the rest of this service we promise anew to Jesus to be his living community and his presence, and resolve that all shall know we are Christians by our love, one for the other.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session:

‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Love is not a feeling; it is a decision. Jesus chose to love those who had not always been as he would have liked, and who would fail him in the last days of his life. Whom do I choose to love in spite of how I feel?
• What does “to the end” mean to you? Is there anyone that you love “to the end”?
• How do I “show my love” to those I really love?
• How hard is it to do demeaning, servant-like things for another person? What makes it harder? What makes it easier?
• “You are to do exactly as I have done for you”. What has Jesus done for me that I must replicate?
• What in my life needs to be cleansed?
• Why did Peter react the way he did? Has another person’s ultra-kind, ultra self-sacrificing, or ultra humble behavior ever bothered you? How did you react?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking questions:

Two reflections on humility:

Spiritual writer Paula Huston said “Truly humble people are grounded inreality. They neither preen under illusions of greatness nor suffer agonies of self-hatred.” Where do I fit on this spectrum?

Rick Warren wrote: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” What, for you, is true humility? What is false humility?

Poetic Reflection in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are there in that upper room, that you are Judas. What are you thinking and feeling as you see Jesus kneeling before you, knowing what you area about to do? Then imagine that you are Jesus, knowing what you know about Judas. How do you feel?

Jesus washes Judas’ feet.
That moment, when you knelt before him,
took off his sandals, readied the water,
did you look up?  Search his eyes?
Find in them some love, some trace
of all that had passed between you?
As you washed his feet, holding them in your hand,
watching the cool water soak away the dirt,
feeling bones through hard skin,
you knew he would leave the lit room,
and slip out into the dark night.
And yet, with these small daily things –
with washing, with breaking and sharing bread,
you reached out your hand, touched, fed.
Look, the kingdom is like this:
as small as a mustard seed, as yeast,
a box of treasure hidden away beneath the dirt.
See how such things become charged,
mighty, when so full of love. This is the way.
In that moment, when silence ebbed between you,
and you wrapped a towel around your waist;
when you knew, and he knew, what would be,
you knelt before him, even so, and took off
his sandals, and gently washed his feet.
by Andreas Kevington

Poetic Reflection:

Read this poem, then write your own note to Jesus about being made whole and clean by him:

“The Touch of the Towel”

Jesus, you kneel before me
You remove my shoes and I am exposed
My feet are grimy
full of calluses and cracks
pungent with sweat and toe jam
I’m embarrassed by them
I pull back but you reassure
You’re not offended
I feel welcome in your hands
vulnerable, yet safe
The cleansing begins
I see your reflection in the ripples
I see me, too
Your water brings truth and life
Who I am and who I can be
I am whole and home in the touch the towel
You look at my neighbor and hand it to me
poem © 2011 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia