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Before diving deeply into the heart of tonight\\u2019s homily, I want to ensure that we all share an understanding of an important concept. A symbol is something that points to something else of much deeper or more abstract meaning than the initial symbol itself could contain. A stop sign, for example, is a symbol for the instruction to stop; the sign itself cannot make us stop, but our shared knowledge of what it stands for, makes us stop. The Sacraments are symbols\\u2014not simply symbols, but symbols nonetheless. Baptism points us to a much deeper understanding of eternal life than simply being washed in water could do alone. The Eucharist points us to Christ\\u2019s salvific actions, on the Cross, to His Resurrection, and even more. Baptism and Eucharist are much more than symbols, of course; beyond pointing to it, Baptism is the entry into eternal life in the here and now; Eucharist points to Christ\\u2019s salvific actions because it is truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. But the symbolic action of the sacraments is crucial to understand because it allows us to enter more deeply into the mystery\\u2014that is to say, to enter more deeply into that which is beyond the human experience: the divine experience. The eternal life offered in baptism is a good thing, indeed a very good thing, but by understanding the symbolic value of the sacrament, we are invited to enter more deeply into the mystery, to ponder what it means that are sins are forgiven and to embrace salvation it offers in the here and now\\u2014to be changed by God not just in eternal life but in our present life. Every time we receive the Eucharist, we receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, even if we don\\u2019t understand what it is or what it points to, but when we fully participate in the great mystery by understanding what the symbol points to, we even more fully embrace the Grace that God gives us, allowing a more profound change in us through God\\u2019s action in the world.
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I preface tonight\\u2019s homily be ensuring an understanding of symbols because tonight\\u2019s Mass has a symbol that is only seen once a year, and sometimes, as has been the case in the last two years, and I gather even longer in this Parish community, even more rarely. The Washing of the Feet is a unique symbol in tonight\\u2019s Mass. The Gospel assures us that this important symbol is not an arbitrary decision, but an imitation of the last moments of the life of Jesus. Describing this important event in the last hour of Jesus\\u2019 life, Pope Emeritus Benedict says that:
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\\u201cJesus represents the whole of his saving ministry in one symbolic act. He divests himself of his divine splendour; he, as it were, kneels down before us; he washes and dries our soiled feet, in order to make us fit to sit at the table for God\\u2019s wedding feast. \\u2026[T]he meaning is that Jesus\\u2019 love \\u2018to the end\\u2019 is what cleans us, washes us. The gesture of washing feet expresses precisely this: it is the servant-love of Jesus that draws us out of our pride and makes us fit for God, makes us \\u2018clean.\\u2019\\u201d
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There is such profound theological meaning in the Washing of the Feet. It reveals even more clearly how the ministry of Jesus is about the emptying of Himself, the willingness to be the servant instead of the served, and it points to how Christ\\u2019s salvific act will wash us of our sins and make us prepared to share in His great heavenly wedding feast.
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Long before I knew about this great theological meaning, and indeed, long before I knew much about Christianity at all, I shared with a friend about my desire to know more about the Christian faith. Growing up, her Christian faith was important to her, and one particular moment stood out. As I remember her telling me, near the end of a retreat opportunity, the small group of young Christians she spent much of her time with were gathered together and told that they were going to have an opportunity to wash one another\\u2019s feet. There was much trepidation in this small group about what that would mean. The Washing of Feet is such a unique thing that there isn\\u2019t really any contemporary equivalent, but in Jesus\\u2019 day, it really was just a sign of power; the master would have his dirty feet washed by his slave who was understood by all to be beneath the master. In her group, my friend was uncomfortable as they were all instructed to take off their shoes and socks, and sitting around nervously with her peers, she was very unsure what to do next. The leaders in the group took the initiative, though, and one leader in particular made a bee-line to her, a leader whom she thought never really liked her and with whom there had even been some conflict. The leader poured warm water over her feet and smiled awkwardly at her as he wiped the water away, and my friend described how in that moment, all the awkwardness washed away, all the tension between the two of them washed way, and she knew that she was loved. In this great act of service, in this willingness for both to be vulnerable and awkward and uncomfortable, love was brought even more fully into the world\\u2014the love of God, the love of neighbour which is the love of God, love! Eventually, my friend washed her leader\\u2019s feet, too, and while the two were still the same people after, the same people with their own flaws and wounds, their own victories and defeats, the Washing of the Feet revealed to them so much more about themselves, their relationship, and the great invitation that the Lord was and is constantly giving them.
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My friend\\u2019s story has really made me excited to wash feet. It feels strange to say that. Again, we don\\u2019t really have a contemporary equivalent to this action, so saying that \\u201cI\\u2019m really excited to wash feet\\u201d might sound very strange. But I love the symbol, and I love that I\\u2019ll get to participate in the symbol. I\\u2019ve been eager for my whole Priesthood, and then some, to share in this awkwardness, to be made uncomfortable and to make uncomfortable, to share in this action that so radically contrasts how we act and believe and behave by the standards of the world.\\xa0
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This invitation to act differently than how the world acts has been part of God\\u2019s tool box from the very beginning. In our first reading today, we hear the Exodus story that is so familiar to us that we might forget how radical it is that God had the Jewish people identify their unique role in His saving plan by killing the false idols of Egypt\\u2014making their neighbour look at them strangely but ultimately saving their life. The reason that St Paul emphasizes the Eucharistic action over and over again to the Corinthians and the other communities he serves is because it\\u2019s so different than how the Jewish people and the Gentile people worshipped before. Eat the body and drink the blood of your God Man, proclaim the death of your saviour who was killed like a criminal, but in doing so, know that your faith points to the fact that He has come again and will continue to come again over and over again in His perpetual presence in the world. As Christians, we are called to act in the world as symbols that point to something well beyond the world\\u2019s understanding\\u2014that leaders are called to serve, that the rich are those who give away their wealth, that the powerful are those who hang on the Cross. Or perhaps most simply, in the words of Jesus Himself, \\u201cI have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.\\u201d The Paschal Triduum which we begin to celebrate today points out and celebrates the most radical things in the life and death of Jesus that we are called not simply to accept and worship but to be transformed by and imitate.
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