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AND HE took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." [Lk 22:19-20]

Artist: Victor Luciano Rebuffo

(1903-1983)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

WOMAN OF TEARS ^_[1]

FOR THIS reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. [Eph 3:14-17]

PETER'S CHALLENGE

1. Jesus tells Peter, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." [Jn 13:8] In saying this, Jesus puts his apostle to the test: thy will or mine be done? [cf. Lk 22:42] The fact that Peter challenged Jesus--"Lord, do you wash my feet?" [Jn 13:6--reveals to everyone present that, as the momentous events of the cross press closer, his preparation for leadership has not ended.

2. Not lacking in eagerness and determination, Peter has yet to discover that these admirable traits cannot compensate for true discipleship. Jesus chose the Twelve because he knew what he was about. He knew those who were clean in their hearts, and the one who was not.

VOICE OF GENERATIONS

3. But Jesus knowledge yielded to the disciples need for self-discovery. They had to learn for themselves the meaning of discipleship, and not surprisingly, their journey of self-discovery was an oft-messy and embarrassing process. In an exquisite yet formal spiritual sense, they had to succeed because Jesus chose them, and he believed in them.

4. Further, they had to succeed because they were graced by the continuing presence of the Son of God. It would not be embroidery to say that the voice of uncounted future generations could be heard speaking in the hearts of the twelve: You must succeed for our sake, for the sake of the world in time!

"MIND OF CHRIST"

5. Peter's difficulties abound because his eagerness degenerates to impulsiveness, rash actions, and words marked by intellectual or spiritual blindness. His well-known determination could just as easily curdle into sour stubbornness "you shall never wash my feet". [Jn 13:8] Jesus knew the antidote to Peter's weakness: firm and clear direction.

6. Peter must offer his own will in sacrifice to Christ. He must cast off his own will to clothe himself with the garment of Christ, or as St. Paul named it, the mind of Christ. [cf. 1Cor 2:16] Without this, Peter would be unfit for the Twelve because he would serve himself and not others. Before he could serve others or lead the Church, he had to surrender to Christ.

VIRTUE OF HUMILITY

7. Either Peter was afraid to take on the imprint of Christ and here we may speculate that on the evening of the foot washing, he was unwilling to stand in the shadow of the cross or he did not know how. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. That the apostles feet are soiled is not the point.

8. Jesus, who adorns his waist with a towel, desires to teach them that service is not defined by roles but rather by the virtue of humility. Peter's intentions--he articulated what the others held in silence--need to be purified. Luke's striking narrative of a disciple who washes Jesus' feet with her tears and dries them with her hair, comes to mind.

COPIOUS TEARS

9. The sinful woman, unnamed except as woman and sinner, and for whom no recognition at table was provided, enters Simon's house for the sole reason of service. Standing behind Jesus who "took his place at table" [Lk 7:36] in the customary manner, she washes his feet with copious tears of sorrow and repentance.

10. With her hair--the natural garment adorning her face and her beauty--she dries Jesus feet, probably soiled and in need of washing. Lacking a place of her own in Simons house, the woman takes the role of a servant and serves. [cf. Phi 2:6-11] Moreover, her service is not an accident of circumstance: her inceptive purpose is manifested by the "alabaster flask of ointment" [Jn 13:10], the sweet balm with which she ritualizes her initiative.

LIVING ICON

11. The unidentified woman follows Jesus at some risk, daring to enter a household symbolized by Luke as a realm or sphere of reality otherwise closed to her. And having stepped across an invisible boundary, she faces palpable opposition: "Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." [Lk 7:39]

12. The gift of the woman's love--the incarnation of her love as self-effacing service--far outshines the phlegmatic blindness of the man whom Luke explicitly names as Simon and whom he individuates as Pharisee. Jesus recognizes, in this unselfish woman, a living icon of humanity in need of mercy and the divine grace that effects it. One can hardly overemphasize the magnitude of the woman's offering of great love.

SIGN OF MINISTRY

13. Nor can we exaggerate Our Lord's antiphonal response of joy: "Your sins are forgiven!" [Lk 7:48] Thus true love redounds to itself, that is to say, glorifying, accrediting and magnifying its divine origin--God:

FOR AS the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. [Isa 55:10-11]

14. We may be forgiven for this inference of faith: that the woman of tears offers Jesus an example with which he, in turn, instructs his apostles. Our Lord intends the simple ritual of foot washing to be a profound sign of ministry, an anthem of service. If Peter is to fulfill the promise of his apostleship, he must comprehend the irreducible solidarity of servant-discipleship and joy.

DEBTS FORGIVEN

15. Indeed, the charism of service has the sovereignty of love as its one aim. Although, in the matter of symbols, much escapes the limitations of human perception, one suprarational reality looms large: service possesses a fragrance. The bouquet from the woman-become-servant's ointment--a parable itself of debts forgiven--fills Simons house, the realm and sphere of the world in need of the Gospel.

16. The perfumed oil testifies that Divine Mercy accomplishes everything which Christ purposes. Moreover, its fragrance prophesies the cosmic scope of the cross of Christ and the invitatory call of his eucharistic banquet. By asking "Do you know what I have done to you?" [Jn 13:12], Jesus is saying that the person who refuses the lawful service offered in his name has no authority to serve another in his name.

GARMENT OF SALVATION

17. One simply cannot sever the receiving of Gospel fellowship and the sharing of it. These are indissoluble. Moreover, the garment of salvation can be understood in large part as a towel; only the one whose life centers on wearing it, offering it in service, and receiving it in return, is worthy of Jesus Christ. This is the obverse of Our Lord's own testimony: "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." [Mt 10:40]

18. Significantly, Jesus intervenes to prevent Satan from striking down Peter, the first born among the Twelve [cf. Exo 12:12]; he prays for Peter's faith to remain strong in time of trial, that he not throw in the towel. If the Twelve can be brought to understand what Jesus had done to them [cf. Jn 13:7] (the water symbolized a consecration) they will not fail to minister to all who "confess with their lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead". [Rom 10:9]

BODY OF CHRIST

19. Theirs will be the ministry of sanctifying the Body of Christ. They will discern and judge rightly in the Spirit to forgive or retain sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. [cf. Jn 20:23] The sign of fellowship will be the kiss of peace in the perpetual memorial of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. [cf. Exo 12:14] They will bless the cup of blessing and break the one bread that members of the Church may become what they eat and drink^[2]--the one Body of Christ! Ultimately, Peter's faith will be his salvation. He will find peace. He will strengthen his brethren. Yes, Peter will come to know these things [cf. Jn 13:17], and the Lord will bless him for doing them.

^[1] Holy Thursday /Mass of the Lord's Supper /Triduum of Easter /Cycles A, B, C /Exo 12:1-8, 11-14 /1Cor 11:23-26 /Jn 13:1-15.

^[2] Cf Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 227, THE TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH FATHERS, ed. John R. Willis SJ (Montreal: Palm Publishers 1966) 443. "You ought to know what you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That Bread which you see on the altar, consecrated by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what the chalice holds, consecrated by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. Through those accidents (elements of bread and wine) the Lord wished to entrust to us His Body and the Blood which He poured out for the remission of sins. If you have received worthily, you are what you have received, for the Apostle says: 'The bread is one; we though many, are one body.'" (1Cor 10:17)