Celebrating the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening in the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran, Pope Leo XIV tells his brother priests that they are to serve the Lord by giving all of their lives to the People of God, and stresses that in this time of great brutality around the world, we, too, are to kneel alongside the oppressed and all in need.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov “In this world, and particularly in those places where evil abounds, Jesus loves definitively — forever, and with His whole being.” Pope Leo XIV gave this powerful reminder on Holy Thursday evening during the Mass in Coena Domini at the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran. In his homily, the Pope recalled that the evening’s solemn liturgy marks their entry into the Holy Triduum of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. The Lord kneels to wash each one of us “Out of love,” Pope Leo emphasized as he reflected on the Lord’s washing of His Apostles' feet, “the Lord kneels to wash each one of us, and His divine gift transforms us.” What the Lord shows us, in taking the water, the basin and towel, he noted, is "far more than a moral example," but is His entrusting to us "His very way of life," He stressed that the washing of the feet is a gesture that encapsulates the revelation of God. By Jesus taking on the condition of a servant, the Holy Father noted, He reveals the Father’s glory, "overturning the worldly standards that so often distort our conscience." 'We are called to serve the People of God with our whole lives' Pope Leo quoted Benedict XVI, who in his 2008 Homily for the Mass of the Lord's Supper, suggested that we, like Peter who at first resisted Jesus’ initiative, too must learn repeatedly that God’s greatness is different from our idea of greatness. Benedict, Leo said, acknowledged that we are always tempted to seek a God who “serves” us, or grants us victory in some way, with us often failing to perceive that God does indeed serve us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet. As the Pope reflected on the Lord's washing of the feet and the institution of the Eucharist with the breaking of the bread, he reminded that Jesus' gesture shows Him giving all of Himself, as priests are called to do with their whole being. "Beloved brothers in the priesthood," the Pope would go on to say, "we are called to serve the People of God with our whole lives." "Through Bishops and priests, constituted as priests of the New Covenant, according to the Lord’s command," the Pope said, "there is made present the sign of His charity towards the whole People of God." Lord's love precedes our goodness The Holy Father reminded that the Lord’s love precedes our own goodness or purity. "He loves us first, and in that love, he forgives and restores us," Pope Leo said, stressing, "His love is not a reward for our acceptance of His mercy; instead, He loves us, and therefore cleanses us, thereby enabling us to respond to His love." The Pope called on priests to learn from Jesus this reciprocal service, Who, he reminded, "does not ask us to repay Him, but to share His gift among ourselves." He told priests that the necessary condition for serving as the Lord did, is for priests to allow themselves to be served by the Lord, for Christ said, "Unless you accept me as your servant, you cannot truly believe in me or follow me as Lord." As humanity is brought to its knees In Him, God, the Pope said, has given us an example, on how not to dominate, but to liberate, and not of how to destroy life, but to give it. "As humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed." In this way, he said, we seek to follow the Lord’s example, who has offered the perfect self-gift of Himself. Thus, the Pope insisted, Holy Thursday is a day of fervent gratitude and authentic fraternity. "May this evening’s Eucharistic adoration, in every parish and community, be a time to contemplate Jesus’ gesture, kneeling as he did, and to ask for the strength to imitate His service with the same love." Continuing tradition Continuing the tradition of Christ, Pope Leo during the Mass washed the feet of twelve priests. The priests were Fr. Andrea Alessi, Fr. Gabriele Di Menno Di Bucchianico, Fr. Renzo Chiesa, Fr. Francesco Melone, Fr. Clody Merfalen, Fr. Federico Pelosio, Fr. Marco Petrolo, Fr. Pietro Hieu Nguyen Huai, Fr. Matteo Renzi, Fr. Giuseppe Terranova, Fr. Simone Troilo, and Fr. Enrico Maria Trusiani, eleven of whom were ordained by Pope Leo last year. Fr. Chiesa was the twelfth, who was not ordained by Pope Leo, but is spiritual director of the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. At the end of the liturgy, the Pope carried the Blessed Sacrament to the place of repose, in the Chapel of Saint Francis.