Thursday, April 9, 2020, Holy Thursday

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.”

Many people have been asking why the bishops have disallowed the offering of Holy Mass in the public during this time of plague. A few folks say that they think the bishops are abandoning the flocks they are supposed to shepherd and are more interested in making the governors of their states happy than in serving God by allowing his public worship.  Prefacing my own thoughts, which I hope will be helpful, I have to say  that my years as a layman and my twenty-one years as a trust have left me with a very deep distrust of the U.S. bishops.  However, I believe that the prohibition of public Masses, which they have ordered, can be defended.  I do not say that I think they are right in this or that their motivations are pure, but I think the decision they made can be defended.  

If it is one thing we humans are not good at, it is learning from history.  We may learn historical facts, even lots of them, but we fail to learn the lessons that history can readily teach us.  I think the current prohibitions are an attempt to put a lesson from history into practice.  The flu epidemic of 1918-2929 resulted in the deaths of some fifty million people worldwide, and over half a million in the U.S., when the U.S. population was a third what it is now.  We can imagine that the current fast moving virus might cause the deaths of several million as well, even with the medical advances we have made since the beginning of the last century.  The current quarantines, I think, are an attempt to keep 1918-1919 from happening again.  This is how I think the decision of the bishops about Mass can be defended.  

Two thousand years ago, the Jews celebrated the Passover, their holiest time, by making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  All the Jews would gather in their homes and they would go to worship at the temple.  Their temple was destroyed nearly two thousand years ago, but the Jews continue to celebrate Passover.  We Catholics are accustomed to worship at The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, to venerate our Crucified Lord on Good Friday, to rejoice at Mass on our holiest day on Easter Sunday.  We cannot do these things now in our churches.  It is as though our temple is destroyed.  But we can celebrate them in our homes.  Not even this virus can keep Easter from coming, or dampen our joy in the Resurrection of our Lord, who died for us.

In the Gospel reading we see Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.  He washes us with his Blood.  We wash his feet with the tears of remorse for our sins against him.  We wash the feet of our fellow disciples with service aimed at helping them attain heaven.  Let us celebrate these coming holy days in the Heart of our Lord, who spared nothing to serve us.