In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis said the Last Supper reveals three foundational truths to the Church.
The pope said Jesus makes two institutional gestures: giving His body to eat and His blood to drink, and washing His Disciples' feet. These acts put two commandments into place – love and service.
POPE FRANCIS
“We are servants, and we cannot go beyond Jesus. We cannot use Jesus. He is the Lord, not us. This is the Lord’s will. But beware: no servant is greater than the one who sent him, the master.”
The Holy Father said this encompasses the third lesson – true and simple humility in service of the Lord's mandate.
EXCERPTS FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Media)
“Love is without limits. Without it, the Church cannot move forward; the Church cannot breathe. Without love, she cannot grow, and is transformed into an empty institution, made up of appearances and actions without fecundity. In his bodily actions, Jesus tells us how we should love, that is, until the end.”
“The awareness is that He is greater than all of us, and that we are servants who cannot go beyond Jesus. We cannot use Jesus. He is the Lord, not us. This is the Lord’s will. Giving himself to eat and drink, he tells us to love one another in this way. Washing the feet, he tells us to serve each other in like manner. But beware: no servant is greater than the one who sent him, the master. These blunt words and actions are the foundations of the Church. If we proceed in like fashion with these three points, we shall never fail.”
“Let Jesus’ gaze enter into me. We will feel many things: love, maybe nothing… We might feel trapped there or feel shame. But always let Jesus’ gaze in. It is the same gaze with which he looked at his disciples at supper.”
