20240328 LOVING TO THE END
28 March 2024, Thursday of Holy Week
First reading |
Exodus 12:1-8,11-14 © |
The Passover is a day of festival for all generations, for ever
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 115(116):12-13,15-18 © |
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 © |
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn13:34 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel | John 13:1-15 © |
Now he showed how perfect his love was
It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.
They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’
LOVING TO THE END
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EX 12: 1-8, 11-14; PS 116:12-13,15-18; 1 COR 11: 23-26; JN 13: 1-15]
What caught my attention when I was praying over the scripture texts of today’s liturgy was the beginning of today’s gospel. “It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end.” If we were in the Lord’s situation, and we know that our end is near for us to return to the Father, could we in conscience also say that we have always loved those that the Father has entrusted to our care and loved them to the very end? In other words, we are called to examine the depth of our love for our elders, parents, siblings, spouse, children, and those entrusted to our care in our professional and community life, whether in the office, school, institution, in our church or organization that we are in. Would others say at our funeral that we have loved them to the very end?
So, we must ask, how did Jesus love us to the very end? Firstly, we are told that “He had always loved those in the world who were his own.” Such is the love of God as so beautifully summed up by John in the famous verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) Truly, God the Father loves every one of us. God the Father loves all of us without exception, whether we are sinners or fail to recognize Him as our Father. The Lord said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt 5:44-47) The psalmist says, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Ps 100:3: cf 95:7) Indeed, we are called to remember that everyone that has been entrusted to our care, including our children and those who do not know Him. We are called to love them as our own because they belong to God.
Secondly, to love to the end means to love with our entire self, mind, body, soul and spirit. It means giving ourselves to their service without reserve, placing the needs and interests of others before ourselves. Again, the gospel reminds us that Jesus, who was God, stripped Himself of His divinity and assumed our humanity, and as if that was not sufficient, He became a slave for us, even unto death. Indeed, God went to the extreme in loving us by becoming a creature like us so that He can show us the way to the truth and to fullness of life. The washing of feet is a dramatic act of our Lord in portraying this self-emptying of God. Jesus reserved nothing of Himself but went to the extreme of suffering humiliation, rejection and ridicule, including death on the cross. He came as a servant and lived amongst the poor. This God is therefore not someone who saves us from a distance but who so totally identified with us in our humanity, our suffering and struggle against sins. This is why Jesus called us His brothers. Indeed, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:15f)
Indeed, the act of the washing of feet is more than just a symbol of unconditional and humble service. It is an act of forgiveness given to all without exception, including Judas, but only if they receive the forgiveness of God. For this reason, when Peter declined to have his feet washed, the Lord said, “If I do not wash your feet, you will no longer be my disciple.” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, do not wash only my feet, then! Wash my hands and head, too!” But He also added, “All of you are clean – all except one.” (Jesus already knew who was going to betray him.) Judas’ feet were washed, but he was unrepentant of his sin. This is why we should never doubt the forgiveness of God that is given to anyone who chooses to repent. Baptism and the Sacrament of reconciliation are the sacramental means of washing away our sins. But if we receive these sacraments without faith and sincerity, then these sacraments, although always efficacious, will not have any effect on us. The sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation are Christ’s assurance that our sins have been forgiven, but unless we recognize our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin, that forgiveness is not truly received or experienced.
This forgiveness given by our Lord finds its full meaning in His passion and death. It is His death on the cross that demonstrates the utter self-emptying of God in Christ when the Father surrendered His Son on the cross and the Son surrendered His Father. By so doing, He carried the sins of the world on His body and suffered the death and the curse of a criminal, of a sinner. But in that mutual surrender of each other, the Father and Son were joined together in a common Spirit of love for humanity. Only because of His death on the cross, can we appreciate the depth of God’s love in Christ. Hence, when we reflect on His love for us on the cross, we should never doubt God’s love for us. Contemplating on His love for us on the cross will give us the courage to surrender our lives to Him by emptying our lives for others. Truly, what makes us unclean and cause us to sin again and again is because, like Judas, we reject His love for us. We do not recognize our sins and the need for forgiveness. Like Judas, our arrogance and our self-sufficiency cause us to reject the unlimited love of God in Christ.
In washing the feet of others, we, too, are reminded that we are called to serve all humbly. And the greatest act of service and love is to forgive those who have hurt us. We can imagine how Jesus must have felt, knowing that Judas was bent on betraying him. Yet, He continued to love Him and sought to invite him back by washing his feet and giving him the morsel of bread as an invitation to remain in communion with Him. Unfortunately, Judas did not respond to His love and mercy. We who have been forgiven by our Lord unconditionally, too, must also extend that same love and forgiveness to those who have hurt us; otherwise, we cannot say that we have loved those whom the Lord has given us to the end. This is what the Lord meant when He told His apostles, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another’s feet. I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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