[Story]
My family participated in our first Passover dinner in the 1970s while living in Michigan. We had become good friends with the Garlands, who had young children the same age as ours. The Garlands could not have any leavened foods in their house during the Passover season, so they gave them to us to temporarily store.

At the Passover meal, I had to wear a yarmulke (yamaka), a skullcap like the archbishop wears during Mass. The Garlandís older, but very young son, read in Hebrew from the Book of Exodus, much as we just did in the First Reading tonight.

[Connection]
The Passover occurred over 3,000 years ago and it is the most important event for the Hebrews in the Old Testament. The angel of death passed over their houses because of the blood they had put around the doors. They were spared the death of their first borne. However, the first born of the Egyptians were not spared during this last plague and so the Pharaoh set the Hebrews free.

The LORD told Moses and Aaron that "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with annual pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution." My family only had to make a pilgrimage two houses west to celebrate this same Passover.

In the time of Jesus, Passover had already been annually celebrated for almost 1,300 years. Jesus most likely had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem each year. But this time Jesus was there with his disciples to explain his ministry one last time.

Our Second Reading from 1 Corr., was written about 15 years before the earliest Gospel. We hear Jesus saying that the bread is his body and that the cup of wine is the new covenant in his blood. Just as the LORD told Moses and Aaron to keep on celebrating the Passover, so Jesus tells us to do this in remembrance of him until he comes again.

Last Sunday, Lukeís version of the Passion also included the Last Supper. After Jesus broke bread, the disciples argued among themselves about who of them was greatest. Often, Jesusí followers just didnít get it. Jesus went on to explain to them that in his kingdom, the leader was supposed to be the servant.

In this eveningís Gospel, the author of John made servanthood even more clear when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

Washing feet was unpleasant work. People wore, at most, sandals in a world of heat, loose garbage, and animal droppings. Peopleís feet were crusted, smelly, and repulsive, and even worse if they were diseased or had sores. Even in this patriarchal society, husbands could not demand that their wives wash their feet. The feet of guests were washed either by servants or by the guests themselves.

Jesus gave a very clear example of what his disciples were to do by washing their feet.

[Invitation]
This model of being a servant continues 2000 years later in todayís church.

o One of the popeís titles is The Servant of the Servants of God.
o I am always profoundly impressed when I hear Archbishop Beltran say during Mass, "And I your unworthy servant." Here is a man I know and look up toóa descendant of the apostlesósaying that he is unworthy.
o In a few minutes our priest will wash the feet of some parishioners so as to give us a model for being servants to others.
o The word ëdeaconí comes from the Greek word diákonos (diavkonoß), which means ëservant.í
o People in religious orders are excellent examples of servants, as well as many lay people that we know in our full-stewardship parish.

Bishop, priest, deacon, religious, and laity must all fill the role of servant.

After tonightís foot washing, Christ asks that we do something more than to put back on our socks and shoes. Christ asks that we recognize the needs for service here in our world, and that we do what we can to meet them.

The service, which is yours to do, will depend on your opportunities, your skills, and above all, your willingness. Don't feel you must do someone else's task that demands skills far different from your own. Wash the feet God places before you. That will be enough.

Consider who's waiting for your service. That person may be a familiar face or a total stranger. The person waiting for you may be

o at your workplace,
o in your school,
o at a ball field,
o or even in your home.

Wash the feet God places before you. That will be enough. But, something more will happen. You will not only wash feet, but you will also set people free for service of their own.

Consider this series of events. Jesus washes the disciples' feet, and the power starts to flow. Then Jesusí disciples begin washing the feet of others. Here tonight our priest washes some of our feet, and the power flows even more. People who are served see the possibility of their own service. Their vision is wider than it was before, and the power continues to flow into new and unexpected places.

The servanthood we see in Jesus frees people from self-centeredness and the need for control. It sets them free from the desire to dominate, and enables them to trust that God is working among them. Opportunities expand; new life opens up; communities change for the better. Each successive example of servanthood sets power flowing in fresh directions as others recognize the challenge and accept it.

We must ponder the servants who have gone before us and observe those who are now among us; then we must dare to take on the role of servant ourselves.

We are the body of Christ and we must do this in remembrance of him as he taught us at the Last Supper almost 2000 years ago.