DO YOU REALIZE WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YOU?

Ex 12,1-8.11-14; Ps 115; 1 Cor 11,23-26; Jn 13,1-15
29 MARCH
In the Gospel according to John, in the celebration of the Last Supper, no reference is made either to the Eucharist and to priesthood. Is it perhaps because these divine realities are not necessary for the life of the Church? Or perhaps because the true purpose of those divine realities is aimed at a love without limits either of time, or of heart, or of martyrdom or of other things? When the sacraments are emptied of their supernatural finality, they become pure magical acts and often also of superstition, because they are deprived of their purest truth. We know the end of the Eucharist. Jesus revealed it with the utmost clarity of the Holy Spirit in his speech in the synagogue of Capernaum.

The Jews quarrelled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever” (Jn 6,52-58).

The washing of the feet explains with an example what it means: “He who eats me will live for me”. Whoever eats me will live to make me live in his life. What is the life of Christ Jesus? To become the servant of all and to give his life as a ransom for all. Taking the last place and starting to serve by consuming his life for the salvation of the world. Who does the service start from? From those who are with us, who share the same faith, the same hope, the same charity and the same ministry. Jesus does not go down the squares or through the streets of Jerusalem and there he implants a post to wash the feet of those who pass by. This is not the end of the gesture of Jesus. Jesus wants to teach the disciples that if they do not love each other, just as the Master has loved them, there will be no credibility when they preach the Gospel. They will not tell it from his body, like his body, but from their heart. Jesus certifies that his disciples are his own life.

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 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.

Another truth. The washing of the feet does not take place publicly, but in the secret of the Cenacle. It is not a gesture for the world, but for the disciples. It is the disciple who must know that Jesus loves him in such a great way. It is the disciple who must know that his fellow disciple loves him with the same love of Lord Jesus. It is the disciple who must be comforted by the love of the disciple. It is the Pope who must be supported by the love of the Cardinals and the Cardinals by the love of the Pope. It is the bishops who must be comforted by the love of the presbyters and the presbyters by the love of the bishops. The same is true at every level of communion. True love is visible.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints always make us visible love.