Today we remember the Passover of the Lord, just as the Israelites of the Old Testament. In the time of the Israelites, the Passover was looked at as a remembrance of God’s faithfulness to His people. He saved them from bloodshed and misery by covering them with the blood of the lamb. Though we have been made aware of this symbolism over the years, the beauty of it never ceases to amaze me. God’s historic salvation is recreated in the readings of today, as we look at the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made for humanity.

Though Maundy Thursday is famous for the Last Supper that the Lord Jesus shares with his disciples, the Gospel Proclamation focuses more on a different experience – the washing of the feet of the disciples. The Lord Jesus, when he received his mission from the Father, was entrusted these disciples and told what to do: He was asked to love them to the end. He had to love them despite their failures, their shortcomings, their weaknesses, their betrayals and their denials. Knowing full well that they would choose their own happiness over his, the Lord Jesus chose the path of love. When I look at the readings of today, I imagine myself in the place of one of the disciples. I would have been so concerned about the state of my feet that I would not have let the Lord even come near them! Is that not what we are like with our own lives? When we see something that is not ideal, we choose to hide it from the Lord instead of giving it over to Him so that it may be washed by His healing flow. But the Lord Jesus took the dirty feet of his apostles and silenced their raging minds with a simple gesture of love and obedience. For the Lord Jesus, the washing of his disciples’ feet meant the washing of each of us as well. For him, rejection did not matter, pain did not matter, suffering did not matter. His heart of love overcame every other emotion that he would have to endure in the coming days. When we are given difficult people, are we able to wash their feet? Are we able to look beyond their weakness and love beyond measure? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, that was made available to us through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, nothing is im- possible for us. Even the most unlovable hearts can be transformed by our acts of love and service.

Prayer: Abba Father, give us a heart of unconditional love. Amen.