St John 13:16-20
In our Gospel today, St John takes us back to the Last Supper when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his Apostles. It was the custom to wash your guest’s feet before eating. The host would never have contemplated this, as that was the task of the servant or slave. It should also be noted that at the time of Jesus, only a gentile slave or servant would have done this in a Jewish household.
We see in Jesus’s action, an example not only for his Apostles to follow but for all of us who wish to be his followers. Jesus, the humble and suffering servant gives us an example against our human pride. St Augustine comments on this Gospel Passage by saying, “As [man] was lost by imitating the pride of the deceiver, let him now, when found, imitate the Saviour’s humility.”
As followers of Jesus, we too must imitate Jesus through a life of service and transform the most difficult, menial and even repugnant tasks into a humbling service for God’s glory and honour.
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