- Holy/Maundy Thursday
Humble yourselves . . . We cannot pass through the low door with our head held high unless we want to crack it. And the door we have to pass through is Christ crucified, who humbled himself down to the level of us witless fools.
- Catherine of Siena
(A day of foot-washing, literally and symbolically. Whose “feet” will you wash today? How will
you let others wash yours?) |
EX 12:1-8, 11-14; PS 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18; 1 COR
11:23-26
JN 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."
Reflection on the
Scriptures |
Jesus is clear in his message: If I have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet.
He tells us he is giving us an example of service to others. “As I have done for you, you should also do.”
So why the reluctance to be a part of this? Why do we not want to follow Jesus in that? Maybe we are afraid; maybe just tired. It may be just a matter of trusting in God. For both Peter and us: maybe we don’t believe we are worthy.
If we accept the intimacy that comes with Jesus washing our feet,
how can we possibly carry out this kind of extraordinary service? Can we do it with the same love that Jesus did/does?
The answer is no. Of course, we are not worthy. Neither was Peter. Even as Jesus washed Peter’s feet, he knew Peter would deny him, soon. As he washed Judas’ feet, he knew he was loving and caring for his ultimate
betrayer.
So we aren’t worthy. Yet he washes our feet and puts our shoes back on sending us out into the world.
- by Maureen McCann
Waldron
Revelations of Divine
Love - by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 49 “Where our Lord appeareth, peace is taken, and wrath hath no place. Immediately
is the soul made at one with God when it is truly set at peace in itself”
Thus saw I that God is our very Peace, and He is our sure Keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace, and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace. And thus when we, by the working of mercy and grace, be made meek and mild, we are fully safe; suddenly is the soul oned to God when it is truly peaced in itself: for in Him
is found no wrath. And thus I saw when we are all in peace and in love, we find no contrariness, nor no manner of letting through that contrariness which is now in us; [nay], our Lord of His Goodness maketh it to us full profitable. For that contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them
ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there.
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