Ego to Zero
Tonight we begin the Sacred Paschal Triduum, in which "Christ accomplished His work of human redemption and of perfect glorification of God. By dying, he has destroyed our death, and by rising, he has restored our life" (Universal Norms). This evening up until the evening of Easter Sunday is the holiest day in the life of the Church, and we are blessed to begin this sacred night by allowing God to touch our minds and hearts in the context of what Our Lord did this night 2023 years ago. In the world we live in today, we are caught off guard by a world that offers us money, fame, esteem, popularity, and many more. It’s like we are not satisfied with what we have right now. We want this and we want that for my pleasure, for my well-being, and for myself. Yet, on this sacred night, Our Lord sets us an example of how we can conquer this inclination to self-glory: self-giving, self-emptying, and self-offering.
The first is self-giving. Our gospel today recounts how Our Lord began to wash each of his disciples’ feet. He did this because He knew that the hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He knew that it was already time to give Himself to Father, and so Our Lord gives us a reminder on how we can remember Him, which is by breaking the bread—the Holy Eucharist. Whenever we gather for the Holy Mass, we remember Him, we remember His great act of love on the Cross, and we are with Him most concretely in the Most Holy Eucharist, which we receive at every Mass. Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist to remind us of what we are supposed to do as followers of Our Lord, which is to wash another’s feet. Our celebration of the Eucharist requires that we wash one another’s feet, that is, to serve one another and revere Christ’s presence in other persons. That’s why whenever we receive the Eucharist, we sense the presence of Christ in each other. Like a bridegroom and a bride, we are one as the mystical body of Christ, and Christ is our head. That means we are to consider others’ needs to be as important as our own and to serve their needs without expecting any reward.
The second is self-emptying. Our second reading today fulfills our first reading, in which the perfect lamb without blemish is emptied and offered to the Father in the person of Jesus Christ, who is about to institute this Sacred Pasch—the passing over of sin to new life in Christ. Jesus Christ, though God, "did not regard equality with God rather He emptied Himself; taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness" (Phil 2:6). He humbled Himself; He emptied Himself. "Kenosis" in Greek. We see this in the gospel as He puts off the cloth that speaks of His divinity and dignity just to wash our feet and serve us. We can also see the kenosis of Jesus in the Eucharist. In the bread and the wine before it was being consecrated. For the bread, before it becomes a bread, it is a wheat at first and it needs to be dried and die. Likewise, for the wine, before it becomes wine, it is a grape at first and it needs to be tread on and crushed. Thus, wheat in order to become bread must die first, and grapes in order to become wine must be trampled first. This is the kenosis of Jesus; this is the self-emptying of Jesus. We see the humility of Jesus in the Eucharist being dried and crushed to be broken, given, and shared.
The third is self-offering. Our responsorial psalm today expresses that "Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ." It tells us about the greatest offering of Jesus—His most Most Precious Blood on the cross, which brought forth man's salvation. This greatest offering of Jesus is in line with the greatest commandment He gives us: "Love one another as I have loved you." Jesus tells us to give our all to others, just like our Lord did. As if Jesus is saying to us, "Do not be afraid of what will happen when you give your all; I will be with you; I have you, and you have me." The first-century Christians became witnesses to this. The citizens of Rome will know that this or that person is a Christian when they see their witness to take care of the prisoners, the sick, the poor, the orphan, and the widow. They would have an aha moment when they discovered that this or that was a Christian because of the love they shared with one another. We actualize this act of love by attending Mass, a perpetual institution, wherein in the Eucharist, Jesus offers Himself to us so that we may offer ourselves to Him for the sake our brothers and sisters.
In a world full of selfishness, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who will undergo suffering and passion, sets us an example of self-giving, self-emptying, and self-offering to the Father for our brethren. As we remember this sacred night, the institution of the Holy Eucharist and of the priestly order, let us get our egos to zero and let us give, empty, and offer ourselves to the Lord who speaks to us: "Love one another as I have loved you."
