As our Easter Triduum begins, today we are gifted with the timely reminder that we are called to minister to one another. The Gospel passage of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet introduces scriptural validity to the concept of a non-hierarchical spiritual community. 

As Jesus lowers himself to the level of the feet of his friends, he is demonstrating – both physically and spiritually – that we are each called to minister to one another in the same way that the Head of the Church ministered to us. In this touching scene during the Last Supper, Jesus is demonstrating an essential pillar of what would later be called the Christian faith. He is showing us – through his witness – that the role of minister is not reserved for a specific demographic, position, or a select few within the faith community – each and every one of us is called to minister. 

In his book Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church, 20th century liberation theologian Leonardo Boff posits that the role of the theologian is to encounter present problems with creative solutions. Boff writes, “theology’s task is not exhausted in the exposition and explication of the official teaching of the church. Theology also has the mission of seeking out adequate answers to new and urgent problems, using the resources of the depositum fidei [deposit of faith]” (51). For Boff, one of these urgent problems was the priest shortage in the base communities of Brazil in the 1980s. 

Boff sheds light on the lay leadership of small, localized base communities of faith, and in doing so makes the argument that ecclesial ministry need not be reserved solely for those called to the ordained male priesthood. Boff’s on-the-ground witness to the priest shortage, paired with his observation and admiration of the ministerial gifts of local base communities, led him not to a new idea, but rather to a return to ancient tradition. As we read in the Gospel passage, Jesus intended for his disciples to minister to one another. In stooping to the level of the servant, Jesus, the unequivocal top of the hierarchical structure of Christianity, demonstrated that the top-down structure of leadership was never the intention within the Christian tradition. Boff quotes first century author Tertullian:

“…Are not we lay people also priests? Hence, where there is no such hierarchy, you yourself offer sacrifice, you baptize, and you are your own priest. Obviously, where there are three gathered together, even though they are lay persons, there is a church” (52). 

Rather than heresy or apostasy, Tertullian and Boff alike see the emboldening of the lay as a return to the Church’s earliest tradition – that rooted in the Jesus narrative and the post-Resurrection reality of people of the Way. Before the apostolic charism of the priesthood –  introduced by Hippolytus of Rome, sometime between A.D. 217 and 235 –  there was no written requirement that the celebrant of the Eucharist be sacerdotal, or an ordained priest (Boff). The return to tradition that he is calling us to, then, is a return to the priestly ministry of all people, arguably just the ministry Jesus intended through his charge to those early disciples when he advised them to wash the feet of their neighbors. 

Boff taught us that theology has the mission of finding creative solutions to urgent problems. In the U.S. Catholic Church of 2024, there is no shortage of urgent problems. With lower trust in the hierarchy post the clericalism of the sex-abuse scandal, a shortage of priests, and a growing acknowledgement of the priestly gifts of people of all genders, the present moment begs for a creative solution. Perhaps the way forward is to renew a tradition that was part of our Christian faith since the very beginning – for all of us to stoop down together and wash the feet of one another. 

Leonardo Boff, Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1997).

The Spirit of Saint Stephen Catholic Community in Minneapolis, MN embodies the Catholic Social Teaching of the call to participate in community as family. Spirit Community “believes in the priesthood of all people,” and therefore chooses to have volunteer prayer leaders preside over their liturgical worship services. By rejecting the hierarchical model of leadership, the community is choosing to empower its members to embrace their God-given priestly gifts. Just as Jesus called the disciples when he washed their feet, members of the Spirit of Saint Stephen call upon one another to lead worship, prayer, and sacrament. And, in doing so, each member has the opportunity to actualize their call from Jesus to serve one another. Spirit welcomes all to join their Liturgies at 9:10 AM ET on Sundays, both in-person and virtually. Details can be found on their website.   

Jan Richardson’s piece, “The Best Supper,” is a depiction of participating in community as family. A diverse group of twelve sits in the round, representing a model of equity as opposed to a hierarchical model of a church. 

https://paintedprayerbook.com/2008/10/03/the-best-supper/