Homily – Maundy Thursday

Today is the celebration of ‘descending love’ – In fact, it is remembrance of triple descending of our Lord: i. descending from heaven to earth to be with us and to become one of us (Emmanuel); ii. descending from Master-position to Slave-level to wash the feet of his friends and disciples (Servant Leadership); iii. descending to the hades/hell to liberate the dead through his death on the Cross (Redeemer). This we reflect at least ceremonially, though not this year. But there is another descending love, which has been so far only one of its kind or event in history: It is the woman who ‘washed’ Jesus’ “feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them” (Lk 7:38) – In John’s Gospel, it would be Mary of Bethany who anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair (Jn 12:3). No one has done this act of devotional love – neither earlier nor later in history. Let us appreciate the devotion of the health workers to the coronavirus affected – They do more than just washing the feet or body.

We celebrate this descending love especially during the holy week. On Palm Sunday the people celebrated their joy for Jesus; on Maundy Thursday we celebrate Jesus’ friendship with his disciples (and with us, through the Eucharist); on Good Friday we celebrate the commitment of the Redeemer to the people; and on Easter Sunday we celebrate the peace and joy of the man rising from the dead as the God of the Universe. In all these events the mission of Jesus unfolds as his unconditional love for humankind – not collectively but individually.

As Jesuits, we are born for a mission and the Society has entrusted us with a mission, and we grow gracefully, and finally we die empty. The Lord gives us all to spend ourselves for others till we are called back to merge ourselves with the same Lord. Our whole life is a series of celebrations: We celebrate the joy of our calling by the Lord; we celebrate the fullness of our mission in bringing liberation to the people; and we celebrate, at the end of our lives here on earth, the merging of ourselves with God. Teilhard de Chardin would call it: Omega Point.

Maundy Thursday is a day to remember the discipleship and to live out the Mastership. We have been formed to be disciples in order to become servant leaders. We learn today how Jesus formed his disciples and we also ask for the grace to be Jesus-like Masters in exercising our authority and responsibility. Today we remember the invitation to Priesthood – to be the other Christ.

Jesus’ way of forming disciples is four-fold: It was a transformational journey – shaping up his disciples in leadership arenas, with changing scenario of mission. The four stages of growth as Jesus’ disciples are:

1. Self-awareness (Mt 3:13 – 4:11);
2. One-on-one influence (Mt 4:18-24);

iii. Team-building (Mt 10:5-10); and

1. Organizational upbuilding (Mt 28:19-20).

(Cf. K. Blanchard and P. Hodges, Lead like Jesus, Dorling Kindersley, Delhi, 2006).

Jesus was aware of his call and mission – He was called ‘to proclaim good news to the poor’ (Lk 4:18). The good news was to make each one whole through the process of ‘freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free’. And this clarity, conviction, and commitment attracted his friends to become his first disciples. Jesus might have been familiar with them on a personal level and that was why he called them one by one. And Jesus had one-on-one influence with his disciples – He was not founding a corporate company but mustard-seed-community that would become tree for all people (Mt 13:31f). As he calls one by one by name, each disciple is personally attached to Jesus. But Jesus wants to build a community of friends – This friendship should take place like yeast transforming the entire flour (Lk 13:21). He starts to send them two by two to familiar turfs of Israelites (Mk 6:7) and their experimental territory is extended to the neighbouring territories such as Canaanites’ area. Once they are able to build up working teams for mission and once they are able to survive and thrive in the change from familiar to not-so-familiar situations, Jesus is ready to leave them. Then the small band of his disciples, just about 11, would become the biggest organization or corporate in the globe. We already see them not getting disheartened when Jesus ascended into heaven but rather they ‘returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy’ (Lk 24:52). The end effect is self-confidence, capable of forming great communities and of emerging world-encompassing Church.

This is what Jesus has done to his disciples. But then, what is expected of the disciples in return? Jesus would like each of his disciple eventually to become a Master with three M’s: Mapping – Making – Meshing (Cf. T. Henry, Die Empty, Penguin, New York, 2015). That is, Mapping (planning in formation) – Making (active ministry at present) – and Meshing (networking for the future).

When we were born God did the ‘mapping’ for us – He chose the life-course and he has been with us through currents of life – He made us stand on lofty mountains and walk the stormy seas. And this ‘making’ of us was done by the Mother Society, through entrusting us with mission(s). And our output in return is ‘meshing’, that is, accomplishing our mission through networking. This networking is again three fold: intra – inter – and trans. We become an integrated person first, then we build up teamwork with others (Jesuits, collaborators, coworkers, partners), and we enrich our trans-relationship with God. The three phases of God’s plan, namely Mapping – Making – Meshing and our output of intra-, inter-, and trans-relationship building is the invitation of Maundy Thursday. It is what Thomas Aquinas would say: exitus et reditus – We come from God and we go back to God. Jesus celebrates today and tomorrow this transitional phase of coming to us and going back to God.

Leadership could be viewed as either top-down or bottom-up: One is the manager of power and authority; and the other is leader of humbleness and service. Both are based on respect: One is demanding respect and the other is commanding respect.

Jesus was a servant leader and he commanded respect: Nicodemus came in searching for wisdom (Jn 3:2); Centurion requested for help for his sick servant (Lk 7:3); the blind man cried: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me (Mk 10:47); the anxious father of the sick child asserted: I believe and help my unbelief (Mk 9:24); Peter on behalf of his fellow disciples exclaimed: you are the son of the living God (Mt 16:16); even the possessed proclaimed: you are son of God (Mk 3:11) – in spite of all these recognition, he went about doing good: People came to him but he also went in search of the needy – He said there are other towns to go to (Lk 4:43). He searched for a man lying paralyzed for 38 years (Jn 5:5) and he healed him. He identified Zacchaeus hidden amidst the branches  of the Sycamore tree and said: I want to stay with you (Lk 19:5). He told the woman caught in adultery: neither do I condemn you (Jn 8:11). His life could be summarized in one word: Compassion. He lived out what he preached as he was after service. Even when people looked for him to confer power and authority on him, he declined. The holy week is full of understanding the needy: not only feeling for them but also becoming them – feeling for them on Maundy Thursday, becoming them on Good Friday – accompanying them on Easter Sunday onwards. We are invited, as disciples of Jesus, for this mission.

Maundy Thursday is a day to celebrate table fellowship. Jon Sobrino, in his book Witnesses to the Kingdom would say that Jesus was put to death for his eating habit. He was accused of eating with sinners and tax collectors. The focus of today’s liturgy is institution of Eucharist and consecration of Priesthood. As the consecrated host is broken or crushed, a Priest is to be broken in service and to be crushed along with the needy he serves. In being broken, the Priest unites the people of God and in his self-annihilation, there comes out the Easter life of peace, harmony, and joy. We are consecrated to celebrate this life giving Eucharist. As St Francis de Sales would say Eucharist is a meal that prevents the strong from becoming the weak; and it promotes the weak to become strong. It is a broken meal, broken in service, in order to make this humankind whole and unified. The priest breaks the bread in order to unify the people he serves.

In the year 258, as Deacon Lawrence was literally grilled on hot iron rods, he was asked what was his possession. He said boldly: The people, whom I serve, are my possession. He immediately asked the persecutors of Emperor Valerian: turn me on the other side, this side is well done. Today we celebrate Priesthood – Priestly vocation is divine. Once St Francis of Assisi said: “If I were to meet at the same time some saint coming down from heaven and any poor little priest, I would first pay my respects to the priest … because this person’s hands handle the Word of Life and possess something that is more than human.” For a priest, the mission entrusted to him is his daily bread and butter; and the people he serves is his cup of salvation. St Ignatius asserted that we work out our salvation in the salvation of the people we serve. Let us renew our priestly ordination and consecrate ourselves to our mission of working for the greater glory of God, which is the greater good of souls.

Francis P Xavier SJ

09 Apr 2020