On the afternoon of Holy Thursday, Pope Leo XIV officiated the Mass in Coena Domini in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, marking the beginning of the Paschal Triduum with a homily centered on the meaning of Christian service and, in particular, the priestly ministry.
During his preaching, the Pontiff recalled that the gesture of the washing of the feet performed by Christ cannot be understood solely as a moral example, but as the concrete manifestation of the way God acts. Jesus, by assuming the attitude of a servant, reveals a logic different from the usual one, in which greatness is not measured in terms of power or dominion, but of self-giving.
In this context, Leo XIV took up an idea already formulated by Benedict XVI, according to which man tends to imagine a God who confirms his expectations or guarantees him success, while the Gospel presents a God who serves.
From there, he emphasized that the priest is also called to assume this logic, not partially, but with the totality of his life.
“We are called to serve the People of God with our entire life,” he affirmed, insisting that the ordained ministry implies a personal self-giving that goes beyond mere function.
In that sense, he recalled that God’s love precedes man’s response and does not depend on his merits, but is the starting point that makes any conversion possible.
The Pope also placed this message in the current context, pointing out that, in the face of the multiple forms of violence and suffering present in the world, the Christian is called to adopt a concrete attitude of closeness.
“If humanity is on its knees because of brutality, we too must kneel alongside the oppressed,” he affirmed, in direct reference to Christ’s gesture.
The celebration included the traditional washing of the feet of twelve priests, in continuity with the usual practice of this day.
At the end of the Mass, the Most Holy Sacrament was transferred to the place of reservation, according to the liturgy proper to Holy Thursday.
With this celebration, the Pope began the central days of the liturgical calendar, in which the Church commemorates the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ.