Chapter 19 - Jerusalem

Toward the end of this chapter, discussing the events of Holy Thursday, Father Martin writes:

I never fail to think how different Christian churches would be if, in addition to our weekly celebrations of the Eucharist, we celebrated the Foot Washing.  It may sound crazy, and it would be terribly complicated to arrange every Sunday—all those basins of water and towels and shoes and socks!  But imagine the symbolism if every week the presider laid aside his vestments and got down on his hands and knees to scrub the feet of his parishioners.  What a reminder it would be to all of us—priests included—that this is what Christ asked us to do in addition to the celebration of the Eucharist. . . .Seen every Sunday, over and over, the washing of the feet might help us see how power is more intimately linked with service (page 351).

I can already hear the loud objections people would have to such a proposal—the discomfort it would cause!  Indeed, not unlike Peter’s discomfort at having his feet washed by Jesus.

Yet I welcome this idea and would suggest that we need to take it to heart, for it is one thing to receive the Body of Christ, but it is another thing to become the Body of Christ in the world. 

As a person who works with paid staff and volunteers, it has been painfully clear for some time now that there has been a steady decline in people willing to serve as volunteers in the various ministries of our parish churches.  With every passing year, it has become more and more difficult to find people willing to serve in any number of capacities.

How powerful it was, early in Pope Francis’s pontificate, when he decided to spend one Holy Thursday, not in St. Peter’s Basilica or in the grand St. John Lateran, as was his custom, but at a juvenile detention center.  People were shocked when Francis, the apostle of humility, got down on his hands and knees to minister to poor and troubled youth.  Pope Francis didn’t need to preach a homily that day—his actions were the homily.  He didn’t need to catechize—his actions were the catechesis.  With one simple gesture, our pope reminded us that we are to serve one another in the spirit of the Lord, who washed the disciples feet.

Father Martin reminds us in this chapter how shocking the events of Holy Week were:  from the Cleansing of the Temple to the Foot Washing.  And how dangerous for Jesus were these provocative actions, including the raising of Lazarus.

  

To Ponder and Discuss:


1.  Gerard O'Collins, SJ, notes that Jesus understood the Cleansing of the Temple to be a "dangerously provocative act."  Other scholars suggest that Jesus also knew his entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday would have been seen as a threat.  Does his recognition of the inherent danger of these actions, and what may have been an intentional use of symbolic gestures, influence your understanding of Jesus?

2.  Do you agree with the idea that the Foot Washing was more about establishing a "community of equals" than about "humble service?"  Could the two ideas coexist among a group of friends?

3.  Would Christian churches be any different if they performed the Foot Washing as often as they celebrate the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper?


Steven Olson