Pope Francis: 'Serve one another in love'

Giotto - Jesus washes disciples' feet

In a gesture of humility and service, and in imitation of Christ, Pope Francis put on an apron and knelt down to wash the feet of 12 residents of the Santa Maria della Provvidenza care home for people with disabilities, during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, on Thursday evening.

Visibly fatigued and requiring assistance to kneel and stand up again as he came close to the end of the rite, Pope Francis showed tenderness and concern for each person, as he washed their feet. The patients ranged in age from 16 to 86. All of them are Italian (though three were of a different ethnic origin), including one Muslim man.

The centre’s usual Sunday choir, consisting of patients, volunteers and staff, sang popular Italian hymns. Many of the centre’s patients sat in their wheelchairs in the front rows of the assembly.

Speaking extemporaneously, Pope Francis gave the following short homily: "We have heard what Jesus did at the Last Supper: It is a gesture of farewell. He is God and he makes himself a servant, our servant. It is like an inheritance. You also must be servants of one another. He crossed this path by love. Also you must love each other and be servants in Love. This is the inheritance that Jesus leaves us. And he makes this gesture of washing feet, which is a symbolic act. The slaves performed this, the servants at the meals for the people who came to dine because at that time the streets were made of dirt and when they entered in a house it was necessary to wash one’s feet. And Jesus made performed this action, a work, a service of a slave, of a servant. And this he leaves like an inheritance amongst us. We must be servants of each other.

"And for this, the church, today, commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he also - in the ceremony - performs the action of the washing of the feet, which reminds us that we must be servants of one another. Now I will perform this act, but all of us, in our hearts, let us think of others and think in the love that Jesus tells us that we have to have for the others and let us consider also how we can serve better, other people. Because Jesus wanted it this way amongst us."

At the end of the Mass, the Pope carried the Blessed Sacrament to an Altar of Repose. He remained there in prayer until the end of the Pange Lingue hymn, after which he processed out of the chapel in the usual silence with which the Holy Thursday evening liturgy concludes.

This is the second year the Pope has celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Last Supper among a group of people usually marginalized by society. Last year, the Pope celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Last Supper at a youth detention centre.

Source: VIS/Vatican Radio