Fr. Jeff’s Weekly Homily

Holy Thursday
April 13, 2006

READING 1: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which al your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.

Psalm 116
I will raise up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

READING 2: 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.

GOSPEL: John 13: 1-15
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples ( feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him,“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “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.”

People in love are different. Young and old lovers discover a new reality. Flowers bloom more beautifully for lovers and the stars glow brighter. Ice cream tastes better. Lovers are not bothered by the rain, they like walking in the rain. They look at ordinary people and wonder how we could be so dull.

On the Southern border of the Persian empire of Cyrus, there lived a great chieftain named Cagular who completely defeated the various detachments of Cyrus’ army sent to subdue him. Finally, the emperor, amassing his whole army, marched down, surrounded Cagular, captured him, and brought him to the capital for execution. On the day of his trial, he and his family were brought to the judgment chamber. Cagular, a fine looking man of more than 6 feet, with a noble manner about him, was a magnificent specimen of manhood. So impressed was Cyrus with his appearance and dignity that he said to Cagular: “What would you do should I spare your life?” “Your majesty, if you spared my life, I would return to my home and remain your obedient servant as long as Iive.”

Then Cyrus said: “What would you do if I spared the life of your wife?” “Your majesty, if you spared the life of my wife, I would die for you.” So moved was the emperor that he freed them both and returned Cagular to his province to act as governor thereof. Upon arriving home, Cagular reminisced about the trip with his wife. “Did you notice,” he said to his wife, “the marble at the entrance of the palace? Did you notice the tapestry on the wall as we went down the hallway to the throne room? And did you see the chair the emperor sat on? It must have been cast of pure gold!” His wife could appreciate his excitement, but she only replied: “I really didn’t notice any of that.” “Well,” said Cagular in amazement, “What did you see?” His wife looked seriously into his eyes and said, “I beheld only the face of the man who said to the emperor that he would die for me.”

Yes, reality experienced by those in love differs from ordinary reality. Some would suggest that their reality is fantasy, an illusion or a fairy tale. But what if it’s the other way around? What if there are none so blind as those who refuse to see as lovers do?

The leaders of the ordinary competitive reality saw Jesus as another trouble-making Galilean. If only you could see as I see, Jesus told them again and again. He tried to set those imprisoned by the dull, the mundane, and the ordinary free. He brought good news of God’s love and the love God created us to share with our neighbors. But it was altogether too much for them. The reality they believed in said that if they got rid of him people would soon get over him. Things could return to “normal.”

We still long for the love that gets on his knees to wash the dirty feet of the beloved. I’d suggest there is nothing to serve as a better symbol for human limitations than dirty feet. We still long for love so powerful the lover would die for the beloved. Oh, yes, people in love are different. That difference is what God wants to be the ordinary reality of people living the Good News! Can you imagine everyone being in love!

Fr. Jeff McGowan
Queen of Peace Catholic Community
Gainesville, Florida