[ Today's Readings ]
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.
Jesus is the lamb whose blood marks the houses of those who believe in him. Because we are marked with his Precious Blood we are safe from the judgment of God. He marks us again and again each time we receive him in the Eucharist.
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
The humility of Jesus is so great that he strips from himself the outer garments of his glory. He takes on life as man to offer that life for our sakes. He not only lays down his glory as God but even his life as man. He does this for our sakes, so that his Precious Blood can anoint us. He does it so he can give us his flesh and blood in the Eucharist. He does this so that the water that pours from his side can wash us clean from our sins in baptism and reconciliation.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He has to stoop way down to reach us. The chasm that separates man from God was uncrossable from our end. The humility required for God to cross it is breathtaking, so much so that people are offended by the very idea.
Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
But we must embrace the tender love Jesus offers us. It is the gateway to inheritance with him.
In response to that breathtaking love of God we too are called to love differently, with humility and tenderness and intimacy.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another's feet.
This is not payment for what Jesus gives us. It doesn't square us up and make us even. Rather it is offering back to him that which he first gives to us as an offering of thanksgiving.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
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