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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 this day, the Church celebrates three important events: the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the institution of priestly ordination and service, and the commandment to love one another as God first loved us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus knows that his hour has come to depart from this world to the Father. When Jesus offers to wash the feet of the disciples, Peter objects, saying: “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answers, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” And Peter says, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” In washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus gives them a model to follow “so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” With this example of the humility and love of the master, what opportunities do I have today and every day to follow as a disciple?

God, my tendency is like Peter’s in objecting to allow Jesus to humble himself before me. Jesus says, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over.” Yet, like Judas I have betrayed your Son and feel undeserving of his love. Help me, God, accept that you want my soul to be clean all over. For that, I need to allow you to wash me in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable or inconvenient. In turn, by your Son’s example, teach me to love and serve others when it is inconvenient or when humility toward them seems undeserved.

Lord, help me derive from Holy Thursday a deeper understanding of the graces and sacraments that you pour forth from it. If I am overwhelmed in taking its meaning in, guide me to what aspect of it that is most necessary in my life right now. The Gospel acclamation says simply what today is about: “I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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