HOLY THURSDAY: EVENING MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

I have given you a model to follow.

This evening Catholics around the world will gather to celebrate the moment when Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Of course, we do that at every Mass, but tonight we will do it in a way that happens only once a year. We will relive Jesus’ act of washing the feet of his disciples.

At first glance, it might seem that the only thing these two actions have in common is that Jesus performed them both at the Last Supper. But his words to his disciples that night reveal that he was in fact creating an inseparable bond between them.

First, when he washed his disciples’ feet, Jesus told them, “I have given you a model to follow” (John 13:15, emphasis added). That “model” wasn’t just the foot washing; it was Jesus’ entire life. It was the model of a servant who washed people’s feet throughout his ministry. Every time Jesus healed someone, forgave someone, or welcomed someone, he was humbling himself to lift them up. So to follow Jesus’ model means to bend down and serve. It means to put the needs of someone else ahead of our own. It means obeying his command to “love one another” as he has loved us (John 13:34).

Then, when he instituted the Eucharist, Jesus pointed his disciples to his greatest act of self-sacrificial love: the cross. Just as he had poured himself out during his entire ministry, now he would pour himself out completely—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—to rescue us from sin. So when he said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24), he was telling us not only to share the Eucharist together but also to be Eucharist to each other. He was telling us to offer our lives in love and service—to wash each other’s feet.

So when you come to Mass tonight, fix your eyes on Jesus, who has given himself as a model for you. Watch him pour himself out as he washes feet and offers his Body and Blood. Let the depth of his love captivate you. Then go and do likewise.

“Jesus, thank you for your Body and Blood! As I receive you today, may I become more like you!”

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15