JOHN 13, 1-15
What can we give to God?
Fr. Mike Dupo, CJM
If we have received a great gift from God, what can we give to HIM? This is the kind of question I am asking myself as we ponder on the celebration of the feast of the Lord’s Supper.
When Jesus had His last supper on earth with His apostles on the celebration of the feast of Passover meal, He gave us the greatest gift, “His very own life.” Jesus offered to us the eternal food; His own body and the eternal drink, His own blood for our spiritual nourishment. We call it the Holy Eucharist. Jesus instituted the Eucharist on this special feast of the Jews. Nobody could easily grasp this mystery unless we are longing to have a deeper faith in the works of the Most Holy Trinity.
The celebration of feast of the Passover meal during the time of Jesus was very significant for the Jews. The feast commemorates the Exodus event; the liberation of the Israelites from the tyranny of the Egyptians as we have heard from the first reading in the book of Exodus. This is a meal which is the holiest event of the year for all the Jewish families. Each family celebrates this with the accuracy and sophisticated rite. But on the gospel of John we could not hear how did Jesus narrate the rite of the institution of the Eucharist instead He did the prerequisite rite which is the rite of washing (ablution) before eating the meal. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in order to give emphasis on His teaching of Love; “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Loving entails a lot of virtues. Humility and service are the prevalent attitude that prevails in this act of love on which the master washed the feet of his disciples. If Jesus Christ whom we believe as our Savior and our Lord washed the feet of His disciples, as Christians following His footsteps can we also do this to our brothers and sisters in faith? The Washing of the Feet entails a different kind of love, a love that transcends human customs because it entails service and love.
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