Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 6, 2023
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all.”
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Reflection
I love hosting guests in my apartment. I relish tidying up, cooking an elaborate meal, and, if my guests stay with me for the night, providing fresh towels and making up a cozy place to rest. Even though offering hospitality to friends and family is one of my greatest joys, I’ve never offered to wash my guests’ feet upon arrival!
In first-century Palestine, where most people traveled by foot in sandals on dusty roads, offering guests clean water and a basin to wash their feet was an expected gesture of hospitality. If the host was especially wealthy, they would have a servant wash their guests’ feet.
The symbolism is obvious to us now, but knowing this context, we can understand why the disciples were so shocked at Jesus humbling himself to wash their feet. Jesus then goes even further, mandating that the disciples “ought to wash one another’s feet.” Even though they call him “‘teacher’ and ‘master,’” Jesus demonstrates to the disciples that a willingness to serve others with love is at the core of his ministry.
Jesus also calls us to perform acts of radical self-sacrifice for each other. Like washing another’s feet, these gestures are often unglamorous, humbling, and even unpleasant on the surface.
Reflecting on the joy that hosting brings me, I recognize that it’s easy to offer comfort to my own family and friends, but today’s gospel challenges me to do more. How can I comfort people who are poor, physically or mentally ill, incarcerated, marginalized, or suffering? I can start with Jesus, who said, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Loving God, give us the humility and courage to do for others what you have done for us!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, there is much in this world we struggle to understand. It is hard to grasp why one might betray a friend, why suffering enters our lives, or why the righteous sometimes pay for the sins of others. Such is the darkness that sets at the end of this holy day. Yet in this moment of uncertainty, you give us a sure model of how to live. As the Lord washed his disciples’ feet, so he calls us to do the same. Teach us, Heavenly Father, how to be more like your Son. Teach us how to suffer with dignity; how to accept the mysteries of life we cannot understand. Instruct us in the ways of love, so that we may be true disciples of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Saint of the Day
With the beginning of Holy Thursday Mass, Lent ends and the most sacred time of the liturgical year begins—the Triduum, the celebration of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. The Triduum is one liturgical act that begins with the opening procession of Holy Thursday Mass and continues uninterrupted until the closing procession of the Easter Vigil. The services on Good Friday, for example, have no official opening or closing because they are simply a continuation of the one prayer of the Triduum. During these three days, we will live and breathe the Paschal Mystery.
With Mass on Holy Thursday, in particular, the Church remembers the Last Supper at which Jesus offered us his body and blood in gifts of bread and wine. This Mass recalls the love by which Christ gave himself to us on the cross, and invites us to embrace and enact this love in service to one another.
Of the four Gospels, three depict the Last Supper as a meal at which Jesus broke bread and poured wine while blessing them, and gave them to his disciples, saying, “Do this in memory of me.” The Gospel of John, by contrast, presents a very different vision of the Last Supper—it is here that Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, and tells them, “I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Both accounts of the Last Supper tell us the same thing: in this meal and in this act of service, Jesus gave us one example of self-giving love that we are to follow. This example shows the inherent connection between the Eucharist we celebrate and the way we serve one another. Both are participation in self-emptying divine love.
Holy Thursday is sometimes called “Maundy Thursday.” The title comes from the Latin word, mandatum, which means “commandment,” and refers to Jesus’ instructions to follow his example of love.
The Last Supper is depicted in South Dining Hall as a replication of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting. The foot-washing scene depicted below is a painting that hangs outside of the chapel in St. Ed’s Hall. The reliquary chapel holds a piece of the table at which Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Last Supper.
On this Holy Thursday, let us empty ourselves in loving service to others, as Jesus taught us!