Fr Kevin Kilgore

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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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Kneeling down to wash someone’s feet seems odd to us today. But not in first century Palestine. It was an act of service, often done by servants or slaves.

In the ancient world, people didn’t travel in cars or on well-paved roads. Many walked barefoot along dry and dusty paths. Even those with sandals would occasionally brush their foot against a rock or catch a pebble in their toes, cutting and bruising their feet. 

We can imagine the disciples arriving for dinner on Holy Thursday with dusty, calloused feet. Someone should’ve done the washing – just not Jesus. But the Master is teaching his disciples a lesson, once again.

Peter senses something significant is happening, which is why he says, “Master, wash not only my feet, but my hands and head as well!”

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So, what is the meaning of this divine act of service?

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It was an act of love and a gesture of forgiveness; the Lord was washing not only his disciples’ feet, but also seeking to purify their hearts.

And, some would say, it was the moment of priestly ordination when these twelve imperfect men became the foundation of the Church. Consider some of their stories.

There was Judas, who, while he was having his feet washed, was plotting the final details of Christ’s betrayal. There were James and John, who will fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus is praying.

There was Peter, who will curse and cry as he denies knowing Jesus three times. And, with the exception of John, there’s the rest of the lot who will abandon Jesus as he’s being crucified.

They were all in need of cleansing.

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Perhaps this image of washing feet is also an appropriate image for our own lives. We’re all journeying on different paths which are often strewn with pebbles, gashing our hearts, and callousing our feet.

So, what’s the pebble caught in my own sandal? What life experience has left its mark on me? Or, like the disciples, where do I need the Lord’s forgiveness?

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Tomorrow, the Lord will stoop even lower than he does tonight; Jesus will do much more than wash our feet. He’ll offer his very own Body and Blood for us on the Cross.

As Saint Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” To me, that is why the Church – why this church – is so beautiful.

Here Jesus welcomes us. Here he washes our feet. Here he speaks to us through the scriptures. Here he feeds us with a sacred meal – no, not with bread and wine, but with his very own Self.

Where else can we find such healing for our hearts and nourishment for our souls? 

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While removing the dust from our feet is no longer necessary – we aren’t walking in first-century Palestine – we still have our share of cuts and bruises from journeying along the road of life.

The Lord sees our pain and, tonight, he kneels down to cleanse us.

If this is so, then, “Master, wash not only my feet, but my hands and head as well!”

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Image credits: (1) Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet, Ford Maddox Brown (2) Christadelphian Tidings (3) The First Eucharist, Wentworth Wooden Puzzles

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Gospel: Matthew 26: 14-25

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.

When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Ever since Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the Gospels became the story – not of Jesus alone – but of him and his disciples. Even when the focus is on Jesus or his teaching, his disciples are described as being there.

This is particularly true as they begin their ascent to Jerusalem. James and John are caught arguing over who is the greatest; their mother asks Jesus to reward her sons with a coveted role in his kingdom; Jesus sends his disciples out to fetch him a donkey.

And, at last, he washes their feet and shares a meal with them in the upper room. Not just any meal, however; Jesus feeds his disciples with his own Body and Blood. Only now – after the meal has been offered – is the communion broken by Judas.

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In the succeeding hours, Jesus will become increasingly alone. Not only will his disciples abandon him; even as he cries out in agony from the Cross, his own Father will be silent. 

The same Father who said after the baptism and transfiguration of our Lord, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him,” will now say nothing. From the Last Supper until his death, Jesus enters into a rare, devastating state of loneliness.

In the ages following the crucifixion and death of our Lord, popular piety has arisen, seeking, perhaps, to re-write history; to revisit what happened; to keep Christ company in his final hours.

One such example is the popular song, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? A song believed to have been written by enslaved African-Americans, who sang as they worked tirelessly under the beating sun.

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Were you there when they crucified my Lord? The song goes. Were you there when they nail’d him to the cross? Were you there when they pierced him in the side? Were you there when the sun refused to shine? Sometimes it causes me to tremble.

Were you there?

As we enter into the climax of Holy Week – from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday – may our answer be, “Yes, Lord. A thousand times yes.”

We will be there with you.

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Image credits: (1) Email Meditations, WordPress (2) A Traitor in the Midst, HB Charles Jr. (3) Flickr – Waiting for the Word, Last Supper 27

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Gospel: John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now? 
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In days gone by, nations would erect large stone walls around the border of their city in order to protect their citizens from foreign armies who might attack them. Anyone who lived within the city walls was considered safe, a trusted member of society.

Thus, the greatest dread would be an enemy who attacked his own people from within. Against such a threat, there was no immediate protection.

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We all know how the story of Christ’s life ends, and because of that, we tend to imagine Judas Iscariot being the suspicious one, the renegade, the one on the fringe of this intimate circle of trust.

But that’s not the case. Judas was one of them.

If the disciples had any inkling of his sinister plans, then they would’ve never allowed him to hold the communal purse. They would’ve intuited right away whom Jesus was talking about when he said, “One of you will betray me.”

But their ignorance reveals that Judas was the enemy inside the walls. 

Tragically, his decision will pull down the curtains, revealing the hearts of all. Within a matter of hours, nearly everyone Jesus loves will abandon him.

Peter will deny knowing Jesus while cowering in fear, warming his hands by a fire. The other disciples will run off into the night, scared for their lives. The crowds, many of whom witnessed or heard of Christ’s miraculous power, will chose Barabbas, a murderer, over him.

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The terrible and sensitive wisdom written into the final hours of Christ’s life is the truth that, under the right conditions, perhaps anyone is capable of becoming the “traitor inside the walls,” turning on those we love the most – friends, family, even God. 

Suddenly, you might discover a long-time business partner has been stealing company funds. A civil servant turns rotten. A spouse’s well-kept secret is exposed. An adult child suddenly splits from the family circle. Such examples of betrayal leave us stunned.

But the Lord carried his cross to Calvary for that very reason – not only to die in our place, absolving our offenses, but also to offer us new beginning after new beginning.

Christ Crucified, have mercy on us.

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Image credits: (1) Judas’ Remorse, Almeida Júnior, 1880 (2) loveEXPLORING (3) Christ Carrying the Cross, El Greco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art