FEET OVER DINNER

Maundy Thursday
Jn 13:1-15

When we were kids we were taught that there are things we should not discuss over a meal. Table etiquette dictates that we should not talk about anything that can make someone throw up. The list of what should be censored during meals varies, depending on the sensitivity and breed of those who sit at table together.

Today, our attention is focused on a meal. Yet the Gospel that blesses this meal talks about washing feet just before eating. Before dinner was served, Jesus served His disciples. The main course was kept until a course on servanthood was given. The meal after all immortalizes the lesson given.

Feet are not welcome topics in an “over-a-meal” conversation. Feet are not washed before eating; hands are. The host does not bend to wash the feet of his guests. That is his servants’ duty. This is our duty, too, as servants of the Lord. And lest we forget, it is the topic each time we sit at the table of the Lord. It is our mandatum, a mandate from the Lord. That is why today is called, “Maundy Thursday”.

Remember the topic that made you throw up at table? Recall that story that made you lose your appetite? When we remember the feet that were washed during the Last Supper, may it make us throw up all our pride and self-glorification. When we recall the story about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, may we also rise at table to serve one another.

Highlighting the washing of feet during this most important meal for us is good. It helps us not to forget the real meaning of this meal. When Jesus said, “Do this in memory of Me”, He certainly meant more than making the bread His Body and the wine His blood. His memory includes the example He gave by washing the feet of His disciples, an example He gave even when table etiquette dictated otherwise.