He said not, "Thou shalt not be troubled, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be diseased;" but He said, "Thou shalt not be overcome."
- Juliana of Norwich
(Where in your life are you needing to claim this conviction of faith and trust at this time? Ask for the grace to release your concerns to God.)
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EX 12:1-8, 11-14; PS 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18
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 |
The Gospel verse says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” We will see tomorrow that Jesus loved us enough to die for us. We see in the Gospel that even though he is teacher and master and God, he still serves. He washes the feet of his disciples. He takes a towel and a water basin and washes the road dust and dirt from the feet of these men who have
walked long distances in sandals. Peter is embarrassed. This is a more private act, or an act for a servant to be doing for a master, not the other way around. But Jesus is turning things around. The greatest will be the least, and the least will be the greatest. He is the greatest, but he performs a very lowly, but very intimate act by washing the feet of his friends. And by this example, tells them what it means to “love each other as I loved you.” They must serve, not stand above or
apart. Not pontificate or set themselves up as authorities, but be there in the trenches with others. Jesus gave his body and blood, gave his life, and washed their feet. Rinsed their dirty, smelly, feet, then wiped them with a towel. Touched them. Jesus loved us by being born a baby, a human baby, growing up, healing people, helping people, knowing people. And then dying for us all. Through his life, through the Eucharist, through his death he showed his love for us in his intimacy, in becoming
man, and in dying. We can show our love for him by showing our love for each other. We can heal people, help people, know people, and through that, know and love God.
by Tamora Whitney
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 57
“In Christ our two natures are united”
The next Good that we receive is our Faith, in which our profiting beginneth. And it cometh [out] of the high riches of our nature-Substance into our Sensual soul, and it is grounded in us through the Nature-Goodness of God, by the working of Mercy and Grace. And thereof come all other goods by which we are led and saved. For the Commandments of God come therein: in which we ought to have two manners of
understanding: [the one is that we ought to understand and know] which are His biddings, to love and to keep them; the other is that we ought to know His forbiddings, to hate and to refuse them. For in these two is all our working comprehended. Also in our faith come the Seven Sacraments, each following other in order as God hath ordained them to us: and all manner of virtues.
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