A Father Who Reveals True Priesthood
by Fr. David M. Knight
March 28, 2024
Holy Thursday
Lectionary No. 39
Exodus 12:1–8, 11–14; Psalm 116; 1Corinthians 11:23–26; John 13:1–15
"Jesus, knowing the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table… and began to wash the disciples’ feet." John 13:3.
As “priests in the Priest,” our ministry is to let Jesus give others life by expressing himself in and through our human actions. At the Last Supper we see Jesus letting the Father express himself in him. By washing his disciples’ feet he revealed the Father’s desire that Jesus—although he was God—and all Christians—although we are divine—should abhor every appearance of prestige:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave… (Philippians 2:3).
In the measure that we who are consecrated as priests, whether by Baptism or by Holy Orders, act as if we were “higher” than anyone else, we obscure the priesthood and the presence of Jesus in us.
Holy Thursday calls us to live out our Christian priesthood by expressing in ministry the family love of brothers and sisters. rejecting anything that distances us from others.
Priesthood without loving familiarity is a contradiction in terms.
ACTION: Insist that everyone calls you by your first name. Do it for them as you ask them to do it for you.
PRAYER: “Father, teach me to express your humble love.”
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
