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Holy Thursday
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Mass of the Last Supper
2nd April 2026
Gospel: John 13:1-15
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
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Today, Holy Thursday, my dear friends, we remember and celebrate the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. This supper of Jesus with his disciples begins the Solemn Triduum in which we relive the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord. After this solemn meal, the Last Supper, which Jesus had with his disciples we are told by St. John that Jesus went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, and in which the agony began and the betrayal took place. Before going to the garden however Jesus knowing that his hour had come, began giving his disciples his final teachings before his death and resurrection. According to St. John, these teachings were given both by word and example. Chapters 14 to 17 of St. John are some of the most beautiful teachings of the Gospels. They deal with the Holy Spirit, the Vine and branches and Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. In Chapter 13 however which precedes them, in the Gospel passage, which was just read, Jesus teaches his disciples about the spirit with which and the atmosphere which we must create if we are to celebrate Eucharist as Jesus did. He tells his disciples, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Jesus and his disciples were about to celebrate the Passover meal. The disciples would all have come in with dirty feet from the dusty roads. The washing of feet was a sign of welcome, but it was always done by servants, not the master of the house. Jesus then created an atmosphere of welcome, the washing of his disciples’ feet, and an atmosphere of humility, (He was Lord and Master but acted as the servant) in which to eat the Passover meal with his disciples. At this meal the first Eucharist was celebrated when “Jesus took bread, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” The correct dispositions for the celebration of Eucharist then are “welcome and humility”. St. Augustine in his treatise on the Perfection of love has this to say; “What does it mean to sit at this table (the table of course is the Eucharistic table) if not to approach it with humility?” We must question ourselves then as to the true meaning of humility. Humility, my dear friends, is not about self-abasement. Self-abasement is often a lie. Humility is essentially a virtue which makes us live the truth in words and actions, recognizing that the good which we have comes from God. In this respect the Virgin Mary is an example. “All generations will call me blessed;” she declares but then adds “because he who is mighty has done great things in me.” To approach the Eucharist in humility then is to accept the truth that all of us are sons and daughters of almighty God, brothers and sisters of each other, equal before God. The spirit of welcome brings this perhaps abstract notion down to real practical terms. In a spirit of welcome, especially in the celebration of Eucharist, we accept and receive in our midst everyone without distinction in attitude and behaviour. We make real the words of St. Paul; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The spirit of welcome, my dear friends, also makes us available. When we welcome guests into our homes, we are always available to ensure that they have all that they need, all that is necessary. Availability is also the chief characteristic of the servant. In washing the feet of the disciples, in doing what we would call servant work, Jesus made himself available for the well-being and comfort of his disciples.
The Spirit of welcome, of availability for good and of humility are all expressions of the tremendous love which Jesus would display in his passion and death on the cross, a death accepted in obedience to the Father’s will. The Father’s will of course being the establishment of his Kingdom, the Kingdom of Justice of love and of peace which will only reach its fulfilment when the spirit of welcome, of availability for good, of humility has found a home in each one of us and in all persons of good will. As present day disciples we hear once again the words of Jesus; “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This, my dear friends, is what we are called to live. As present-day disciples of the Lord Jesus, as a community whose predominant habit is Eucharist, we must be characterized by love, expressed in the habits of welcome and humility, for habit is not something which we live only on occasions. Habit defines us. As a Eucharistic people we must be defined by welcome and humility, both inside and outside of church. If we are characterized by welcome and humility, we become symbols of hope for our community and this world of ours so divided, by ethnicity, politics, social status, and financial possibilities.
And so, my dear friends, this celebration reminds us of our responsibilities to our church, our parish communities, our religious community and our nations. The gospel passage for this Eucharistic celebration ends with this injunction from the Lord Jesus; “If I therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Today my dear friends, Christ speaks to us; He calls us to build the habits of humility and welcome and all that is implied in them, both in church and out of church. As disciples he calls us to be symbols of hope showing others by the example of our lives that it is possible to accept each other as and live as sons and daughters of the One God that we worship, brothers and sisters of each other in spite of differing ethnicities, political persuasions, and social and financial status; He calls us to be one nation. One religious institute, in which there is no more East Indian and African, no more Filipinos and Indonesians, no more, Jamaican and Trinidadian, but all Christians, living the peace and harmony which the name Christian suggests. It is for this that Jesus died on the Cross, so that he could gather all who are scattered. Amen
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, out of love for us your disobedient children, you sent your son, Jesus Christ to earth to bring us back to obedience of your wishes and your law, a law meant to return to the harmony which existed in the beginning. Forgive us Father for our obstinacy, give us the grace to imitate your son Jesus who obtained for us the forgiveness of the sin of our first parents and continues to forgive us. May Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mother of the church intercede for us, so that we return to the harmony of your creation. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, also our Mother and Jesus, your Son and our Brother. Amen
