A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[39] Exod 12:1-8, 11-14 Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 1 Cor 11:23-26 John 13:1-15

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

Place yourself in the Gospel passage today.  Jesus comes to you, one of His disciples, and is going to wash your feet.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the man you left everything to follow and to serve, the man who has taught you so much, wants to wash YOUR feet.  What would your reaction be?  Would you be like Peter saying, “You will never wash my feet,” or would you graciously allow Jesus to serve you in this way?  My initial response would be like that of Peter- no Lord, you are not to wash my feet, I am your servant, I should be washing your feet.  How many times have we said this to God- No Lord, I cannot accept Your love, Your mercy, Your goodness, Your blessings- I am not worthy.  Yes we are not worthy, we are sinners, God does not need us, and yet here we are today.  God loves us into being and His love outweighs our unworthiness.  Pushing away this love, saying no to God does nothing but take us farther away from Him.  Peter is quick to change his mind when Jesus says, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”  Likewise we need to accept God’s love, mercy, goodness, gifts and many blessings in order to have inheritance with God. 

Jesus sets a profound example of humility for the disciples by washing their feet.  Jesus was “fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God.”  And the next thing He did was bend down and wash His disciple’s feet.  This is not a typical response we would think of when someone obtains power, but Jesus knows this power is not for His own glory.   The disciples are later sent out to follow in the example of Jesus, to humble themselves and serve others, bringing them to the Lord.  What does it really mean to be a disciple?  To be a disciple is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, not only to have an intimate relationship with Jesus and follow his teachings and commandments, but also to live our lives dedicated to God and to share that with others, to love and serve others.  Jesus’ disciples were not only disciples; they were disciple makers, they learned from Jesus’ example, humbled themselves and went out to serve others, to share Jesus’ teachings and the love of the Father.  Today you may have the opportunity to have your feet washed at mass by your priest or at least witness the washing of the feet.  Then, as with the end of every mass, we are sent, to “Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.” This is what we are called to do.  We are modern day disciples and disciple makers.  What does this mean in our lives today?  Does this mean we go get a basin of water and a towel and start washing people’s feet?  Maybe so, or maybe we do not literally go wash people’s feet, but we go serve the Lord and those around us in that humble manner.  We take that extra step and not only become a disciple, but become a disciple-maker by sharing God’s love with the world.

Today on this Holy Thursday, I invite you to reflect on the following prayer as we prepare for the coming of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. 

Almighty and ever-faithful Lord, gratefully acknowledging Your mercy and humbly admitting our need, we pledge our trust in You and each other.  Filled with desire, we respond to Your call for discipleship by shaping our lives in imitation of Christ.  We profess that the call requires us to be stewards of Your gifts.  As stewards, we receive Your gifts gratefully, cherish and tend them in a responsible manner, share them in practice and love with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.  We pledge to our ongoing formation as stewards and our responsibility to call others to that same endeavor.  Almighty and ever-faithful God, it is our fervent hope and prayer that You who have begun this good work in us will bring it to fulfillment in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen