On Holy Thursday, the pontiff urged Catholics to imitate Christ\u2019s service in a world marked by brutality.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV on Holy Thursday returned the Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, reviving a papal practice last observed there in 2012 under Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n
Departing from Pope Francis\u2019 custom of celebrating the liturgy in prisons or migrant centers, Leo celebrated the rite in the cathedral of Rome and washed the feet of 12 priests of the Diocese of Rome.<\/p>\n
In his homily, the pope framed the liturgy as the solemn entrance into the Easter Triduum and said Christ\u2019s love, shown in both the Eucharist and the washing of the feet, reveals the justice of God in a world wounded by evil.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis evening\u2019s solemn liturgy marks our entry into the holy Triduum of the Lord\u2019s passion, death, and resurrection,\u201d Leo said. \u201cWe cross this threshold not as mere spectators, nor out of habit, but as those personally invited by Jesus himself as guests at the Supper in which bread and wine become for us the sacrament of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis love becomes both gesture and nourishment for all, revealing the justice of God,\u201d the pope said. \u201cIn this world, and particularly in those places where evil abounds, Jesus loves definitively \u2014 forever, and with his whole being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the washing of the feet, Leo said the gesture is not simply a moral lesson but a revelation of God\u2019s own way of loving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the Lord shows us \u2014 taking the water, the basin, and the towel \u2014 is far more than a moral example,\u201d he said. \u201cHe entrusts to us his very way of life. The washing of the feet is a gesture that encapsulates the revelation of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope also cited Benedict XVI, recalling that Christians must repeatedly learn that God\u2019s greatness is unlike worldly greatness. \u201cWe too must \u2018learn repeatedly that God\u2019s greatness is different from our idea of greatness\u2026 because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion,\u2019\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n
He warned that human beings are tempted to seek a God who grants success, victory, or usefulness like wealth and power rather than recognizing the divine power revealed in humble service.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet we fail to perceive that God does indeed serve us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet,\u201d Leo said. \u201cThis is the true omnipotence of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope said Jesus\u2019 action purifies both humanity\u2019s false image of God and its false image of man.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared,\u201d he said. \u201cIn contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service, and love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo stressed that Christ gave this example not in a moment of acclaim but \u201con the night he was betrayed, in the darkness of incomprehension and violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this way, it becomes clear that the Lord\u2019s love precedes our own goodness or purity; he loves us first, and in that love, he forgives and restores us,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n
Quoting St. John\u2019s Gospel, Leo urged Christians to live out mutual service in imitation of Christ: \u201cHe does not ask us to repay him but to share his gift among ourselves: \u2018You also ought to wash one another\u2019s feet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope also referred to Pope Francis\u2019 2013 Holy Thursday homily, noting that Christian service cannot be reduced to abstraction or empty obligation but must spring from charity.<\/p>\n
Allowing oneself to be served by the Lord, Leo said, is a precondition for serving others. \u201cBy washing our bodies, Jesus purifies our souls,\u201d he said. \u201cIn him, God has given us an example \u2014 not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one of the homily\u2019s strongest appeals, the pope turned to the suffering of those crushed by violence and oppression.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Leo said the liturgy of Holy Thursday draws together the institution of the Eucharist and holy orders, revealing \u201cthe perfect self-gift of Jesus, the High Priest and living, eternal Eucharist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing priests directly, he said: \u201cBeloved brothers in the priesthood, we are called to serve the people of God with our whole lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
He concluded by inviting Catholics to spend time in Eucharistic adoration and to ask for the grace to imitate Christ\u2019s love.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoly Thursday is therefore a day of fervent gratitude and authentic fraternity,\u201d the pope said. \u201cMay this evening\u2019s Eucharistic adoration, in every parish and community, be a time to contemplate Jesus\u2019 gesture, kneeling as he did, and to ask for the strength to imitate his service with the same love.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story\u00a0was first published\u00a0by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n