Weekly HOMILY for April 21, 2011: Holy Thursday -- Empowerment to Serve Others

Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Holy Thursday / Chestnut Hill College
April 21, 2011

Empowerment to Serve Others
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


ALICE'S SHAME AND EMBARRASSMENT

A Catholic writer named Alice Camille has written a very personal reflection about what Holy Thursday means to her.

Alice and her sister Ida were on good terms, but they were also living very different lives. Ida was a stay-at-home mom with three daughters and Alice, at that time, was unmarried and all wrapped up in her career.

With that background, Alice writes this brief reflection: “Several years ago, a night of terrible need brought my sister Ida and me together.

“I had just had minor surgery and was in more pain than I can ever remember bearing. Ida was vacationing with her family, but she left them in a motel to come and spend the night with me.

“I was so disabled by the surgery and the pain that I could not even take care of my most basic human needs without help. Bound by bandages and unable to sit down, I just stood in the bathroom in fouled clothes and wept with humiliation.

“Ida knelt on the floor and started to take the soiled clothes that stuck to me, talking in soothing tones as she might to one of her children. She undid the bandages, washed my body and then redressed my wounds, all the while reassuring me with her levelheaded calm.

“In her capable hands, my embarrassment turned to gratitude, and my comfort and dignity were restored.

Now, when I watch the foot washing on Holy Thursday, I think of how tender, sweet and infinitely practical it is to wash away each other’s shame.”

That very personal story helps us understand the focus of this first day of the Sacred Triduum.


BEIGN AN ALICE-IN-NEED

Let’s return to the Upper Room in the Gospel for a moment.

What would be going through your mind, having come to know who Jesus really is, having him invite you to a special meal, and then having him offer to wash your feet?

Would you feel embarrassed? Ashamed? Unworthy? Upset? How would you express yourself? (Express disapproval by a nod of the head and shaking of the hands.)

Have you ever been an “Alice-in-need” and had an Ida in your life? If you have, then you know the power of a loving presence when you’re feeling shame, guilt, or embarrassment.


SPECIFIC ALICE OCCURRENCES

There are times when we suffer embarrassment or shame. Our embarrassment may not be the physical dependency that Alice Camille experienced.

Instead, it may be an awful mistake – like something we wish we had never said in public.

It may be a failure – like being passed over for a particular job or responsibility in the religious family we belong to or at work.

It may be position we took with a family member on moral or ethical grounds and caused a serious rift in relationships.

It may be sin – like having to own up to being unfaithful to God, to a spouse, or to a friend.

We all have embarrassment or shame to deal with, and perhaps we’re dealing with it at the present moment. And when we do, we need an Ida to be there for us.


THE CALL OF HOLY THURSDAY: TO BECOME AN ALICE TO OTHERS

Holy Thursday calls us to wash away each other’s embarrassment and shame. It calls us to wash away each other’s pain and suffering.

And the Mandatum Ritual will do that, if we allow the modeling of Jesus to become part of ourselves through prayerful presence.

Yes, if in prayer and presence to Jesus himself, I can experience that same washing he does for his disciples, the power to cleanse and heal others will be mine.

Imagine removing the soiled bandage of a brother/sister’s error?

Imagine washing away the effects of another’s sin?

Imagine dressing the wounds of an argument or misunderstanding so relationships can heal?

We can make each other whole because Sacred Scripture and Sacred Ritual have made us whole tonight.


CONCLUSION

The Gospel tells us that after washing their feet, Jesus returns to the Passover Meal as we do now, and like the Apostles, we will feed on the Flesh and Blood of the one who makes these “washings” possible.

Let us become then what we now eat – the Lord Jesus washing the feet of one another.

Because kneeling can be difficult for many, we will be washing the hands of each other so all can participate.