All in One Night

In reflecting on what we celebrate this evening, I read the thoughts I posted last year on Holy Thursday (March 20, 2008). And if I say so myself, it's a pretty good post. In it, I repeated a question my spiritual director asked me: "Do you dare let Jesus wash your feet?"

Maybe a suitable question today would be to consider those people in our lives who regularly wash our feet. The people who are there for us -- no matter what -- doing the dirty work: listening to us, supporting us, renewing us, loving us.

And then, a second question: whose feet do we wash? Who are the people that you make yourself vulnerable to? How are you there for them in their time of need? Why are you willing to be on-call, inconvenienced, and uncomfortable? Is it because you love them? Why do you love them?

Of course these questions cannot lead us away from what really matters today: that Jesus offers himself to us. Humbly, generously, lovingly. We get what it means to be Christian all in one night. Discipleship means doing the dirty work with love. Discipleship means breaking bread together. Discipleship means communion around Christ. Discipleship is obedience to Christ -- letting Him wash our feet even if we, like Peter, are confused, doubtful, or embarrassed.

If you remember, the first call of Jesus was "Follow Me." Jesus didn't offer explanation and didn't require any, either. Jesus didn't demand faith in him, because faith follows from obedience.

As we enter into the holiest days of the year, into the "sacred mysteries" of our faith, our goal shouldn't be to "get it" all, to understand what Jesus is doing, and how and why he does what he does. Our goal should be to obey: to love one another as he loves us (John 15:12). We see that love tonight, we will certainly see it tomorrow, and if we look closely, we'll see that love each and every day. And that's what discipleship is about: discerning that love in our lives and sharing it as freely as we have received it.