The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

March 30, 2024

Gospel:  Mark 16:1-7

Emma loves stories.  From her shelf filled with brightly colored books, she will happily bring one (or several) to any willing reader.  But her favorite stories are the ones the adults tell from memory – stories about the day she was born, how grandpa made her laugh when she was a baby, stories about things Mom and Dad did as kids and what kind of games Grandma and her sisters played when they were little.  These tales help her understand who she is.

Like Emma, we have been listening to the family stories our elders have told their children down through countless generations.  And in the telling we too discover who we are.  For what we have heard is the story of a people’s faith – and we are that people.

We have heard the stories of our ancestors in faith told.  We heard the story they told about how the world came to be.  It told of a good God who forms a good world and makes a creature in the divine likeness.  Hearing that story, we, like our ancestors, discover the goodness of creation and the potential for Godlike goodness that is in each of us.

We heard the story of the Exodus, in which the same good God leads an oppressed people to freedom.  And, like our ancestors, we discover that God leads each of us to freedom from whatever enslaves us.

We hear the story of a tomb found empty, its inhabitant raised to new life and then going ahead of his followers into Galilee.  And we know, as the followers of Jesus came to know, that those who enter the waters of Baptism lie with Jesus in the tomb and follow Him out of it to the familiar hometown roads. We sing Alleluia! As we walk into His steps, for we know that His resurrection has opened to us a whole world of new possibilities: (A) reconciliation with God and another (B) concern for our neighbor’s needs (C) confidence when sickness overwhelms us (D) life that even death cannot destroy.

We have shared our faith story with the new believers we welcome into our community tonight.  For many months, with the support of our prayers, they have reflected on the story of faith – ours and our ancestor’s as it unfolds in the Liturgy of the Word throughout the Church year.  They have told the stories of their search for faith.  They have heard many of us share our stories, the personal dimension of our communal faith, explored ways in which we LIVE our belief.  They discovered themselves in our story.  What they heard and saw has drawn them here to join us tonight.

Paige, CaLeah, Ariana, Linda and Chad, we are so very pleased to have you come to The Table for the very first time. 

We continue to tell the story.  Soon the whole saga will unfold once more in the Eucharist Prayer, the story we tell at every Mass.  And in the telling, in the breaking of the bread that is the risen Lord’s body, we discover again who we are; the Living Body of Christ in the world of today.  We are the people who carry His News to a waiting and needy world.    

Holy Thursday 2024

Gospel:  John 13:1-15

March 28, 2024

We enter tonight into the Sacred Triduum, three holy days that culminate in the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, by placing ourselves in humble service to others.  The solemnity, the symbols, and the beauty of this liturgy need very little – if any – explanation.  We can focus on many symbols tonight, but let out attention be drawn to the Gospel we have just heard proclaimed and the sacred action which will follow this homily: the mandatum (washing of feet). 

Instead of hearing the familiar story told in the synoptic Gospels, we hear instead John’s account of what happened after the meal Jesus shared with his disciples.  By telling them HOW Jesus washed the feet of these disciples, John makes the necessary connection between servanthood and Eucharist.  This is called mandatum because it is Jesus’ mandate that his disciples to as he did.  “Do this, do this love, in memory of me.  Do this Eucharist in memory of me.  Pour yourself out in complete service to others as I have done”.  Early in Church history, the mandatum was considered a sacrament; a transforming encounter with Christ. 

Sharing in the Eucharist means washing the feet of others. 

Feet are an interesting part of our bodies.  They help support us and keep us standing upright.  They prevent us from falling by keeping us balanced. Above all, feet are essential to walking as we take one step at a time.  They may not be the most glorious part of our body, but they have a major role to play.  Ask anyone who has lost the use of a foot.

The Hebrews walked from slavery into freedom.  The prophets walked from place to place announcing the message of Jesus.  Even at the time of Jesus, walking was THE mode of travel.  So, celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus, who took the role of slave and that of the host, washed disciples’ feet.  By doing this, Jesus not only performed a practical act of offering comfort to weary feet, he also emphasized that if anyone wishes to be a follower, she or he must be a servant to all.

The Hebrews were instructed to eat the Passover meal with their loins girt (that is to say, flexed, ready to walk), sandals on their feet, and staffs in hand ready to “hit the road”.  Before the journey, the Hebrews were instructed by God to prepare a meal.  They would need nourishment for the journey.  This meal was not one for the sake of eating/killing hunger – it was a sacred meal.  So they were prepared to hear God say, “Ready, set… go!”… they were called by God to set out on a journey with no clear knowledge of WHERE they would be going… kind of like handing your phone to someone who would program your GPS, click start, and tell you to follow it … wherever it tells to you walk … forever how long. 

Jesus shows the disciples the meaning of perfect love.  Just as Jesus knew the twelve, He also knows us.  In fact, Jesus is aware of our past sins as well as those we will commit.  In all of this, Jesus still loves us.  Knowing fully who we are, Jesus is still willing to serve us and asks us to do the same.  Doing Eucharist means service to one another on the journey of life. 

“Where charity and love prevail, there is God.”  Let us commit ourselves to the poor, to humble service as a Eucharistic people who live by the mandate of Christ. 

Let us go forth and wash the feet of others.