April 17, 2025, 

Gospel: John 13:1-15

It was before the feast of the Passover. Jesus realized that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father; and as he had loved those who were his own in the world, he would love them with perfect love They were at supper, and the devil had already put into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had entrusted all things to him, and as he had come from God, he was going to God. So he got up from the table, removed his garment, and taking a towel, wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing.

When he came to Simon Peter, Simon asked him, “Why, Lord, do you want to wash my feet?” Jesus said, “What I am doing you cannot understand now, but afterward you will understand it.” Peter replied, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you can have no part with me.” Then Simon Peter said, “Lord, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”

Jesus replied, “Whoever has taken a bath does not need to wash (except the feet), for he is clean all over. You are clean, though not all of you.” Jesus knew who was to betray him; because of this he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

When Jesus had finished washing their feet, he put on his garment again, went back to the table, and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example, that as I have done, you also may do.

Reflection:

"Service and communion."

This evening we commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. The first and second readings point to the Eucharist as the new Passover, the new Covenant made in the blood not of a lamb, but the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29). And yet, the focus of the Gospel is not upon what takes place during the meal, but after it. Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He does what a slave would have done at that time. The washing points to the fundamental command of loving service that every Christian is to live out in imitation of their Master; a necessary effect of receiving Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. But it also points to the Sacrament of Baptism, showing that we are washed clean of sin by Christ, and that we belong to him through the washing of Baptism. This is why Jesus says, “If I do not wash you, you can have no part with me.” The gestures of the Last Supper are about both service and communion. We belong to Christ and so we are called to serve.

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