Holy Thursday, April 14, 2022

John 13, 1–15

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.”

On Holy Thursday morning, the priests of this diocese gather together at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More to offer Mass with the bishop.  During this Mass, we renew the promises we made to the bishop at the time of our ordination.  This is a sign of our union with the bishop but also, as it is done on Holy Thursday, it is a commemoration of the holy priesthood in Jesus Christ which he first shared with his Apostles on this night nearly two thousand years ago, and in which we share now.  Following Chrism Mass, at which the holy oil stocks are blessed and replenished for use in parishes throughout the diocese, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper is offered in the evening.  It is the last Mass offered until the vigil Mass on Saturday night.  Today’s reflection is on the Gospel reading for this Mass.

“He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.”  St. John wrote at the beginning of his Gospel, “He came unto his own: and his own received him not” (John 1, 11), meaning, his own neighbors and even relatives.  When John later says, “He loved his own in the world”, he means those who chose to be the Lord’s “own”.  The people who should have received him and his teaching did not, whereas the people who should have kept away from him became his neighbors and relatives.  He loved them “to the end” of his life on earth.  We can also understand this as to the furthest extent of his being.  This contrasts with the next verse in the reading: “The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over”, which, literally, from the Greek reads: “The devil had already placed in the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, that he betray him.”  The love of Jesus, on the one hand, and the hatred of Satan and Judas, on the other.

The washing of the feet of the Apostles by Jesus is noteworthy in part because it is out of place.  The slave would wash the feet of those who came to dinner when they first entered the house,  at that time, the host would kiss his guests in greeting and anoint their heads.  Jesus appears to wash their feet during the dinner.  The Greek can be translated, “When the dinner had begun”.  Since he does this out of the proper order, Jesus makes it clear that he is performing a sign.  The interruption of the meal as much as the action itself, since Jesus was not their household slave, would have disturbed the Apostles very much.  We are to take from this particular action 1) that the Lord made himself a slave for us and that there is nothing he would not do for us.  He stoops to the very lowest position in order to serve; 2) that he came to wash away even our worst sins, and our most hidden sins; 3) and that, as he says, he makes an example of service for us to follow.  We should note that he does not set the example by serving at table, but in a way in which he would get himself dirty.  He does not just wash away our sins, he takes them on himself.