The Triduum has officially begun! And I had an A Capella concert, so I didn't make it to Holy Thursday Mass. I will briefly reflect on the Gospel reading here, though.

Today's Gospel is John 13:1-17, 31b-35: 

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Of course, we immediately get the reference to the Passover, which is mentioned in the first reading for today. Christ is the lamb who is slain, His blood spread across the doorpost so that death will pass over and not touch the inhabitants of the house. We drink His blood and mark our hearts with Him whom we have killed, and we are protected, because He was innocent, an unblemished Lamb, who died willingly for us.

Jesus knows it is time for His sacrifice. This sentence seems to serve largely to tell us that He goes willingly and knowingly to His death. Nothing about Christ's passion is a surprise to Him. He knows and accepts it all for our sakes. 

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Once again, Christ's love is infinite and endless. He goes willingly to His death for us, and not just with the idea of saving "humanity," but with love for each and every individual. This especially calls to mind His love for His disciples, which shows us His divinity because He loves them perfectly and to the very end, and also shows us His humanity, because He had friends. He loved His friends. This also shows us a clear model of humanity as it is meant to be - in the image of God, loving. He is not less human because He loves; He is more perfectly human.

The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

Christ humbles Himself even in His last moments with His apostles. He does not say, "Guys, tonight I'll be arrested and tomorrow I'm going to die. I'm sacrificing myself for the whole world, so can we please just chill tonight? Can someone get me some more wine?" He shares a meal with His friends, for sure. But during the meal, He presents them with His own Body and Blood. After the meal, He gets up and washes their feet, humbling Himself and setting an example of perfect humility and love. Before I so much as have minor surgery, I insist on at least a full day of goofing off beforehand with no responsibilities. I expect to be excused of everything, to be waited on and pampered. The night He is betrayed, the day before His death, knowing exactly what lies before Him, Jesus teaches and loves His friends.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

Then we get to Peter, who I often think might have been made the first pope because he's so easy to relate to. "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" No, Peter, He's going around the room washing everyone's feet, but not yours. You're special. I bet your feet smell like roses naturally, and they never need washing. There's also a sense here that Peter thinks he is the unworthiest person in the room. Sure, Lord, you stooped to wash everyone else's feet, and that was crazy enough, but you wouldn't serve me, would you? I am the lowest of the low. We should be serving you, not the other way around. 

Jesus just calmly tells Peter that this will all make sense later. Sometimes, it feels like we hear that from Jesus a lot. What's your will in my life? Why do you let evil exist? How can God be three Persons and one God? A lot of things are beyond our understanding, and even though we can try our best to understand, the end answer is often, "Later you will understand." We have to go on faith and trust that Christ knows what he's doing. 

Of course, like Peter, we often refuse to accept that Jesus knows what He's doing. You're not going to wash my feet! I am beneath you; this task is beneath you. Peter almost seems afraid that Jesus is forgetting who He is. Are you crazy? You can't wash my feet. You're God, remember?

But Jesus wants us to trust Him and to allow Him to love us. As Fr. Baker says so often, you have to accept a gift before you say thank you. You have to be loved before you can love. .We must become like little children and accept God's love in order to grow closer to Him. So Christ says Peter must let Him wash his feet. He has to accept Christ's sacrifice, His humility, His love. 

And of course, Peter thinks Jesus is saying that you can't go to heaven unless He physically washes your feet rather than that you have to trust Him and allow Him to love you, and so he asks Jesus to wash all of him. I mean, if the requirement for heaven is washing by Christ, why would He wash just your feet?

Jesus sets him straight, though, pointing out that it's not the physical washing that's important here. They don't need Him to wash all of them, and in fact, most of them are pretty clean spiritually as well. Except Judas, of course.

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Teaching moment! Jesus actually speaks very plainly to His apostles a lot of the time, and I imagine He did in moments we don't see, too (like when it says He explained the parables to them in private). He doesn't just wash their feet, say they're mostly clean, and then go back to the meal. He explains that He's setting an example of serving others and of humbling yourself. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. We have a greater responsibility to humble ourselves and serve others because we know Christ and we have been commissioned to spread His kingdom. We cannot feign ignorance of the call to love one another. He laid it out for us in extremely clear terms. We are not greater than Christ. He humbled Himself, so we should humble ourselves just as much. Peter wanted to deny Jesus the opportunity to lower Himself to a servant, to wash the feet of His apostles, because in serving the apostles, He seems to lower Himself below them. However, as His Body and His followers, we are lower than God no matter how much He humbles Himself. He humbles Himself further than we could ever imagine humbling ourselves, and if we were to truly live as His disciples, we would lower ourselves further than Him. If Jesus is humble, no one may be proud. If Jesus is a servant, no one may be a master.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him .If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
Ok, I'm not really sure where Jesus went in the beginning of this part, but He went out somewhere. In all seriousness, though, Jesus here starts talking about the glory of God and how He and the Father glorify each other, God being complete and perfect in His nature as the Trinity. Jesus's sacrifice glorifies the Father through His obedience to the will of the Father, and God the Father glorifies Jesus in return. He glorifies Him immediately.

Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'

Jesus addresses His apostles as "little children" and tells them He's leaving and they can't come with Him. We will look for Him. From now on, everyone will be like Zaccheus, climbing trees just to try to catch a glimpse of Christ. Where He is going, we cannot come. Yes, in a sense, this could refer to the fact of heaven's gates being closed before Christ's passion and death, thus meaning that we can't come now but we will be able to come. Also, however, this appears to be a statement about the necessity of Christ as the sacrificial Lamb. Despite Peter's statements that he would gladly die with Christ or instead of Him, Christ must be the one to die. Only His death can atone for sins and grant us salvation. He is going to save the world, to fulfill the scriptures, to complete the task for which His Father sent Him, and we can't come. Finally, He is going to die, and no one can accompany Him into death. No matter how tightly you may be holding on to someone, everyone leaves this world alone.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

The Gospel ends with a restatement of the message given to the apostles after the washing of the feet. It is not simply humility or servitude in general that we are called to as Christians. We are called to perfect love. We are called to love everyone just as Christ loved us. A lot of people mock the idea of loving everyone as if love is a childish ideal. Love died for us on the cross, though, and this is no mere command to be nice to everyone. This is a command to lay down our lives, to live each and every moment in self-sacrifice, to live each moment for others, to give up everything we have and everything we are to help everyone we meet and even those we don't achieve eternal joy with Christ. They will know we are Christians by our love - not by our ability to be sweet to everyone or always say something nice, but by our constant, unflinching martyrdom for the sake of Christ and His Church. 

I'm praying for you!

:)