From: Fr. Jerry Fuller, o.m.i. Date: Thursday, April 20, 2000 1:14 PM Holy Thursday Buzz Aldrin and Lance Armstrong landed on the moon in July of 1968. On the day of the moon landing, [Aldrin wrote], we awoke at 5:30 a.m., Houston time. Neil and I separated from Mike Collins in the command module. Our powered descent was right on schedule. With only seconds worth of fuel left, we touched down at 3:30 p.m. Now was the moment for Communion. So I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I put them and the Scripture reading on the little table in front of the abort guidance-system computer. Then I called back to Houston. 'Houston, this is Eagle. This LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.' "For me, this meant taking Communion. In the blackout I opened the little plastic packages, which contained bread and wine. I poured wine into he chalice my parish had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were consecrated elements. Just before I partook of the elements I read the words, which I had chosen to indicate our trust that as man probes into space, we are in fact acing in Christ. I sensed especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and with the Church everywhere. I read: 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for without me you do nothing." 1 On this Holy Thursday it is appropriate to read of our astronauts on the moon re-enacting the Last Supper. Tonight we also re-enact the Last Supper, the occasion when Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room. There Jesus, a day before he died for us on the cross, instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. In this Sacrament we receive Jesus Himself under the form of bread and wine. On this occasion Jesus also instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders, that is, he commissioned his apostles as priest to go out and be his apostles among the nations. There were no others on the moon that morning except Buzz Aldrin and Lance Armstrong. Likewise, at the Last Supper there were no Christians on the face of the earth except for Jesus and his followers. We presuppose that Mary, the Mother of God, and other faith-filled women were there also. From this small nucleus would go out the seed of faith to the whole world; these people would take the Body and Blood of Christ to all nations. In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we make a commitment, by the grace of God with us in Jesus, to begin a new life. In his Gospel, John substitutes foot washing for the words of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. John uses the washing of the feet on two levels, first as a normal par of hospitality. This foot-washing regularly took place upon a person's arrival for a meal. John says that Jesus washes the disciples' feet "during supper." Here he is alerting us to a second level of meaning, foot washing as a symbolic act. In the first-century Mediterranean world, different parts of the body were associated with various aspects of the person. The eyes and the heart represented the intellect and judgment; the mouth and ears, communication; and feet, external action, doing. To wash another's feet, then, carries the symbolic meaning of forgiveness, of washing away the effect of one's actions. John makes Jesus' message very clear: "I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do also do." T his instruction is closely tied to the only other command in John's Gospel: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (13:34). Like Jesus, the community of disciples is called upon to love on another "to the end," and this love requires both forgiveness and humble service. .Among the estimated 125 gangs with 70,000 members in Chicago, many reside or operate in Cabrini-Green, an area of poverty, drug use and gang violence. Bill Tomes, better known as Brother Bill, has been working at the project for 15 years. In 1983, trying to decide between two job offers, he stopped in a church to pray. He recalls, "when I knelt down, all the colors turned fuzzy except the face of Christ on a painting near the altar." Christ seemed to say to him, "Love. You are forbidden to do anything other than that. I'll lead you, you follow." He became a lay youth minister in a parish in South Chicago and the first day had to dodge rocks thrown at him. The second day the gang met to decide whether or not to kill Bill. They decided he should be protected. A year late, Cardinal Bernardin asked Bill to extend his work to include the gangs throughout the city. Brother Bill, a 63-year-old layman, wears what looks like a monk's robe but is made from denim patches. Often at night he gets calls asking him to intervene in a gunfight between rival gangs before anyone is killed. Over the years, he has waded into the midst of gunfire 53 times in order to stop the violence. Each time, the gunfire ceased and he has never been hit by a bullet. People have called him a fool but he responds by saying, "I love these guys-all of them.. I won't turn my back on them." Today there is less violence in Cabrini-Green, some of the gangsters have jobs and have moved out of the projects. Bill Tomes took seriously Christ's words about washing feet, about serving. 2 Dr. David Wilhelm tells of a certain patient of his named John. John was a hard-driving, successful businessman until severe heart problems slowed him down. In addition to surgery and drugs, John would need to quit his job and learn to rest more. His stressful life style had contributed to his debilitating condition. As they discussed the changes he would need to make, John commented, "You know, Doc, I've finally realized that when your heart's not right, there's not much else that really matters." A few months later, a new John entered Dr. Wilhelm's office. He was cheerful, relaxed, healthy. John had quit his job and was spending more time with his family. He was rebuilding relationships he had neglected for years. And he was happier now than he'd ever been. 3 That's the kind of change you and I long for. So we come to celebrate the Lord's Supper, confessing our sins and resolving that with God's help, we will begin a new life. But there is one last thing we need to see: There is only one way a real transformation is possible. It is by faith in Jesus Christ. .Near the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil is a remarkable facility. Twenty years ago the Brazilian government turned a prison over to two Christians. The institution was renamed Humanita, and the plan was to run it on Christian principles. With the exception of two full-time staff, all the work in the prison is done by inmates. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his tem. Chuck Colson visited the prison and made this report: When I visited Humanita I found the inmates smiling-particularly the murderer who held the keys, opened he gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with Biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs.. My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a single inmate. As we reached the end o a long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, Are you sure you want to go in?' "'Of course,' I replied impatiently, 'I've been in isolation cells all over the world.' Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humanita inmates-the prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross. 'He's doing time for the rest of us,' my guide said softly." 4 As we leave the warmth of the Upper Room tonight where Jesus gives Himself to us under the form of bread and wine and follow him up the hill of Calvary tomorrow on Good Friday, we want to remember that Jesus truly did time for all of us and won for us eternal salvation. 1) Buzz Aldrin, Guideposts Magazine. Cited in The Anglican Digest. 2) Barbara Leonhard, OSF (exegesis) and Helen C. Swift, S.N.D. de N., (homily) Homily Helps, Holy Thursday, April 20, 2000, Annual readings Lectionary #40, April 2000. 3) David B. Wilhelm. M.D., RX for the Soul (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), pp. 39-44. 4) E-zine: IM4JESUS!