ROME. Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Missa in Coena Domini as Bishop of Rome this Holy Thursday at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, solemnly inaugurating the Paschal Triduum with a homily of profound theological content and marked continuity with his predecessors.
During the celebration, the Holy Father also performed the traditional washing of the feet for twelve priests from the Diocese of Rome, eleven of whom he had ordained himself just a few months prior. These were the first presbyters he ordained, merely 23 days after his election as Pope, in an eloquent sign of pastoral closeness and priestly fatherhood.
At the heart of his preaching, Leo XIV proposed a central interpretive key: the gesture of washing the feet as “upódeigma”, that is, “that which is shown before one’s very eyes.” He emphasized that it is not a simple moral model, but the very revelation of God’s way of being.
The “upódeigma”: The Visible and Shared Love of God
Commenting on the Gospel account of Saint John, the Holy Father explained that the Greek term used by the evangelist refers to a visible, concrete reality that directly challenges the believer’s life.
“What the Lord shows us, taking the water, the basin, and the towel, is much more than a moral model. He gives us His very way of life.”
Along these lines, Friar Luciano Audisio, Secretary General of the Order, helps us better understand the depth of the term. The word ὑπόδειγμα (upódeigma) in John 13:15 is not merely an “example,” but designates a paradigmatic model that reveals a way of being. In the biblical and Hellenistic context, it is not only imitated externally but guides existence according to a deeper design.
In the washing of the feet, this term is inscribed in the logic of kenosis: Christ not only teaches humility, but sacramentally manifests His identity as Servant. The gesture is not mere moral pedagogy, but a performative revelation of God’s love, which loves “to the end” (eis télos, John 13:1).
Thus, the visible gesture refers to an invisible reality that must be actualized by the disciples: it is not about repeating a ritual, but about entering into Christ’s own logic of self-giving. The upódeigma is normative, but not legalistic: it shapes Christian existence as humble and effective self-donation.
In Continuity with Benedict XVI and Francis
In a significant gesture of magisterial communion, Leo XIV explicitly cited his two immediate predecessors.
On the one hand, he recalled a reflection by Benedict XVI that denounces the temptation to seek “a God of success and not of passion,” emphasizing that true divine omnipotence is manifested in humble service.
On the other hand, he evoked Pope Francis by recalling that the command to wash one another’s feet is not an abstract imperative, but a response that springs from love: a charity lived with authenticity, not out of obligation.
This dual reference places his homily within a line of theological and pastoral continuity, where the centrality of Christ the Servant illuminates the life of the Church.
Three Invitations from Pope Leo XIV in His First Holy Thursday Homily
The Holy Father’s homily can be summarized in three major calls addressed to the entire Church:
1. To Allow Ourselves to Be Served by Christ
Leo XIV emphasized that the condition for loving like Jesus is, first and foremost, to allow ourselves to be loved by Him. Citing the dialogue with Peter —“If I do not wash you, you will have no share with me”—, he recalled that Christian life begins by accepting God’s service.
Christ not only acts, but transforms: by washing man, He purifies his interior and makes him capable of truly loving.
2. To Learn a New Logic of Greatness
The Pope denounced the worldly logic of power, which identifies greatness with domination and victory.
In contrast, Jesus’ gesture reveals a decisive truth: God’s greatness is manifested in humble service.
The Christian God does not impose Himself, but kneels; He does not destroy, but gives life.
3. To Live Service as a Way of Life
Finally, the Holy Father invited us to make reciprocal service the concrete style of Christian life:
“You also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
Not as a one-time act, but as a way of existence. Service —he insisted— is only authentic when it arises from love received and embraced.
Eucharist and Priesthood: The Heart of Holy Thursday
In the final part of his homily, Leo XIV recalled that in this celebration the Church commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the priestly Order, emphasizing their inseparable bond.
Christ, High Priest and living Eucharist, gives Himself as a sacrament of unity and charity, the foundation of ecclesial life.
In this context, the gesture of washing the feet of the priests acquires an even deeper meaning: it expresses the identity of the ordained ministry as radical service to the People of God.
A Call to Kneel Before the Suffering of the World
The homily concluded with a clear call: before a humanity wounded by violence and injustice, Christians are called to kneel before the oppressed, following Christ’s example.
Holy Thursday is thus revealed as a day of living memory, of gratitude and commitment, in which the Church contemplates God’s ultimate love and asks for the grace to live it out.
