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April 14, 2022Abu Dhabi.
Bishop Paul Hinder presided over the Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper at St. Joseph's Cathedral Abu Dhabi at 7 pm. During the service, the Bishop washed the feet of the faithful, following the model of the humility of Jesus Christ.
Below is the full text of the homily delivered by the Bishop during the service.
Readings of the Day:
Ex 12; 1 Cor 11; Jn 13
Tonight, we are remembering Jesus’ last will. We do not have a handwritten document, in which the Lord disposed of what must be observed after his death regarding his legacy. We can rely only on his words and his gestures handed over by his disciples. We trust that they are enough to make us known Jesus’s last will and how it has to be executed.
In today’s second reading Saint Paul refers in this regard explicitly to what he received from the Lord and what he had passed on to the church in Corinth. We still use the same words when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in obedience to the Lord’s command: “Do this in memory of me!” Jesus wanted that his life-giving sacrifice remain present in the Church for ever. Each time, when the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, his passion and resurrection is indeed present among us. And whoever receives the body and blood of Christ in humble faith, enjoys the fruits of the redemption. We are invited to do it with the same love and reverence as first disciples in the physical presence of the Lord.
However, the legacy of Jesus is not limited to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist alone, which easily could turn into a ritual routine. The gospel of John speaks about the last supper without reporting the institution of the Holy Eucharist putting something else at the centre of the last evening before the passion. John reports another gesture of Jesus that is part of his legacy to be followed. The master and host of the supper suddenly got up and dressed himself as a servant to wash the feet of his disciples who were visibly shocked. Simon Peter even objected the Lord: “You shall never wash my feet.” Even nowadays such a gesture is disconcerting and not easily accepted. I just remind the reactions of certain Catholics when Pope Francis at the beginning of his pontificate started to wash the feet of people we usually do not find in the church. They questioned the opportunity of such a performance and saw it as an unnecessary act of self-humiliation compromising the dignity of the pope.
Jesus did not care about such questions. He simply wanted his disciples and their followers to understand that in his church prevail other rules than those of this world. “Do you understand what I have done to you?” Of course, they did not! Do we understand nowadays? I have my doubts. However, the Lord has left it as a legacy for ever: “If I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” Since Jesus has done this at the last supper, we cannot disconnect anymore the Holy Eucharist from our humble service to each one who is in real need – never mind our own social or hierarchical status nor the status of the others. Jesus washed the feet even of Judas although he knew already that he would betray him. He leaves us with the same challenge.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, we must take to heart Jesus’s last will. It is not enough to celebrate the Holy Eucharist according to his word “Do this in memory of me!” The memory of Jesus goes beyond that and requires that we follow the word he addressed to his disciples after the foot-washing: “I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” A Christian community is not only alive when we are praying in the church, but even more when we are doing the ministry of the good Samaritan. Entering the paschal Triduum this evening Jesus, the good Samaritan par excellence reminds us, that no dirt can hinder him to show us his love, neither the dirt on our feet nor the dirt in our heart. The evangelist makes it clear: “Now he showed how perfect his love was.” And this love is no other than the love of God. Are we accepting or refusing it? These days offer us the chance to open again our hearts, to renew our commitment and to act as Jesus did.
