Daily Reflections
We, too, must wash others’ feet
~ Thursday of the Lord’s Supper ~
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 115:12-13, 15-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15
‘So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.’ (John 13: 14)
We are all familiar with the story. We see it played out on the altar. On the night before he was to suffer, Jesus took bread and broke it. ‘This is my body.’ Then he took the cup, and as he gave it to them, said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’ (cf. Luke 22:19-20).
And yet, John’s Gospel doesn’t include these, nor any similar words. Instead, right at the moment when we are expecting them, John recounts another story. This is no oversight or mistake. The washing of the feet is given to help us understand more deeply the meaning of the Eucharist and the cross.
Peter reacts, scandalised by Jesus’ action. This is not a job fitting for the ‘Teacher and Lord’ (John 13:13); it belongs to the lowliest servant to wash the feet. Yet, upon the cross, the Lord is stripped of his garments and made lower than the lowliest of slaves. There is no lower status than that of a ‘criminal’ suffering torture and ignominy upon the cross. He suffers this fate, not to wash our feet, but rather to wash our very souls. ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me’ (John 13:8).
In the Eucharist, we share in Jesus’ saving action upon the cross, made present to us in sacramental form. To celebrate the Mass is to congregate spiritually at the foot of the cross. First, we must receive, but then we are sent out: ‘For I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done to you’ (Jn 13:15). Those who partake in the Eucharist must imitate the mystery they celebrate, offering humble service, just as Christ did. We must bend low and wash the feet of others.
by Fr Michael Grace
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