Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 / 1 Cor 11:23-26 / John 13:11-15
This morning at the Chrism Mass, the Archbishop blessed the three Holy Oils.
They are the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumen and the Oil of the Holy Chrism.
All the three Oils are essential to the ministry of the priests.
Before blessing the Oils, the Archbishop presided over the Renewal of Priestly Promises.
The first promise is a reminder of priesthood and the promises the priests made at their ordination.
The second promise is to be more united and conformed to the Lord Jesus and the sacred duties to the Church.
The last promise is to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, in the Holy Eucharist, and other liturgical rites.
Having renewed their priestly promises, the priests go back to their parishes, and in the evening, they exercise their priesthood with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, or, the Eucharist.
In the celebration of the Eucharist is expressed all promises that the priests renewed at the Chrism Mass.
The “Washing of Feet” is a symbolic expression of the ministry and service of the priest.
The other pastoral ministries include visiting the sick, teaching the Catechumens and baptizing them, spiritual formation of the Christian people, building communities of faith, restoring and reconciling strained or broken relationships, and many others.
It is the priest who leads the People of God in the ministry and service to God and to His People.
So the priest celebrates the Eucharist, and he also forms the People of God into a Eucharistic people.
More than just washing feet, a Eucharistic people go to the lowly, the poor, the rejected, the disregarded, the needy and those who can’t help themselves.
To wash their feet would mean to restore their respect and dignity, and doing it with simplicity, humility and charity.
This is also what the Eucharist means and expresses.
May the partaking of the Eucharist make us become what the Eucharist means.