Holy Thursday

Readings of the Day

Today is Holy Thursday, the beginning of Triduum, three days of remembering God’s amazing love for us. On this Holy Thursday we come together to commune with hopeful sorrow, for many people have carried unbelievably heavy crosses this past year. How do we respond?

In the gospel, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. Peter rejects his Master doing this demeaning action. But the foot-washing points beyond the Upper Room to something more. Jesus knew that the ‘Hour’ was near when he would be handed over to be crucified because for who he was, what he said, and what he did: He healed the blind, forgave sins, and raised the dead. He dared to cross societal and religious boundaries to bring God’s message of mercy and love for all people. The disciples gathered in the upper room were being asked to do the same, knowing the full consequences of their doing so.

Holy Thursday foot-washings by Pope Francis of women, Muslims, prisoners, refugees, and the poor, symbolize not only the priorities of his own ministry but point us to the mission of the church. He does not hesitate to be with refugees, to stand with people in a war zone, to embrace people of other faiths; to reach out to the poor, the sick, the dying; to courageously step into a world of hate, division, and alienation and announce that God’s love and mercy is for all people, not just a chosen few.  In these encounters, Pope Francis brings Jesus' love to the hurting, the marginalized and the forgotten, and in return he receives the love and grace of God through his care and service.

Catholic Charities agencies witness the pain, the fear, the sorrow, the crosses that so many people have had to bear this past year. Staffs respond without hesitation to the pandemic, the growing hunger, the economic crisis, the striving for justice taking place in our streets, and the desperation of refugees. They know the foot-washing means to live the gospel by standing with those who are rejected by society, by pursing justice and by proclaiming love. In return, they experience with humility their own healing.

As followers of Jesus, as the church, we are asked to understand the deeper meaning of the foot-washing. It is not just a ritual done by and for parish leaders. The foot-washing points us into our world where there is a hunger for justice and equality; an end to mourning; where hatred, lies and division are wiped away; and where there is hope of love between all of us. The gospel sends us outside the Upper Room, into the world, to commune with hope, to be taste of the future as well as the present that where there is love, there is God. May we also receive and celebrate this communion outside the upper rooms of our lives.

Let us pray the words of this ancient Latin hymn from the Holy Thursday liturgy – Ubi Caritas

Where there is charity and love, God is there.

The love of Christ gathered us into one

Let us exult and be glad in him.

Let us tremble before, and let us love the living God.

And let us lovingly regard one another with sincerity of heart.

Where there is charity and love, there is God.

When therefore we are gathered into one

Let us beware that there be no division of mind among us.

Let there be an end to malicious strife, let quarrels cease.

And in our very midst, let there be Christ our God.

Where there is charity and love, there is God.  

Thus let us exultingly see with the blessed,

Your face, Christ God:

Such joy is immense and even right,

For ages upon infinite ages, Amen.

Kathy Brown, a Board Member of Catholic Charities of Maine, worked for Catholic Charities USA as Senior Director of Mission Integration and Catholic Identity from 2008 to 2017. For 40 years she worked in various ministries including the Diocese of Phoenix, parishes, RCIA national team, and Catholic Relief Services. She served as the Regional Coordinator for Caritas North America for 14 years. She and her husband, Scott, currently live in Gardiner, Maine.  Kathy has a MDiv and MA in Theology from St. Paul University, Ottawa Canada.

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