HOLY THURSDAY, EVENING MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, APRIL 2, 2026

JESUS WASHING THE FEET OF PETER

MASS READINGS:

Gospel

John 13:1-15

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.”

REFLECTION

 “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.”

The Triduum or "three days" begin on Holy Thursday evening, continue with Good Friday, and end on Easter Sunday. They are the holiest days of the Church year. Though it takes place over three days, it is one long celebration. We hear the story of Jesus' suffering, death and Resurrection. When the Triduum begins, Lent ends but many continue to fast until Easter Sunday. This was called the Paschal fast, fasting to stay focused on Jesus.

On Holy Thursday, Jesus instituted the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders or the Priesthood. He gave the power to the Apostles to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus-spiritual nourishment for our salvation.

St John Paul II in his Holy Thursday homily April 17, 2003, noted, that Jesus loved them to the end. He gathered them together to entrust them with His last instruction and to give them the supreme witness of His love.

Jesus initiates the act of washing of the feet. The first thing the disciple must do is to prepare himself to listen to the Lord, opening his heart to accept the initiative of his love. Only then will he be invited, in turn, to do what the Teacher did. He too must be committed to "washing the feet" of his brothers and sisters, expressing in gestures of mutual service that love which is the synthesis of the whole Gospel (cf. Jn 13: 1-20).

Also during the Supper, knowing that his "hour" had now come, Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, then gives it to the Apostles saying: "This is my body"; He does the same with the cup: "This is my blood". And He commands them: "Do this in remembrance of me". Truly this is the witness of love taken "to the end" (Jn 13: 1). Jesus gives Himself as food to his disciples to become one with them. Once again the "lesson" emerges that we must learn: the first thing to do is to open our hearts to welcoming the love of Christ. It is his initiative: it is his love that enables us, in turn, to love our brethren.

Therefore, the washing of the feet and the sacrament of the Eucharist: two expressions of one and the same mystery of love entrusted to the disciples, so that, Jesus says, "as I have done... so also must you do" (Jn 13: 15).

The "remembrance" the Lord left us that evening encompasses the crowning moment of his earthly existence, the moment of his sacrificial offering to the Father out of love for humanity. It is the "remembrance" that is placed in the context of a supper, the paschal meal, in which Jesus gives himself to his Apostles under the appearances of bread and wine, as their nourishment on the journey to the heavenly homeland.

We are all invited this Holy Thursday evening, until well on into the night, to celebrate and adore the Lord who made himself food for us pilgrims, offering to us His flesh and His blood. To keep Him company.

God Bless You