Washing Jesus' feet

Holy Wednesday .....

In Western Christianity, the Wednesday before Easter is sometimes known as "Spy Wednesday", indicating that it is the day that Judas Iscariot first conspired with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins. This event is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-12, Luke 22:3-6. The Sanhedrin was gathered together and it decided to kill Jesus, even before Pesach if possible. In the meantime, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. Here he was anointed on the head by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, with very expensive ointment of spikenard. Some of the disciples were indignant about this; the oil could have been sold to support the poor. Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered them his support in exchange for money. From this moment on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus ...

I especially like the part about Mary washing Jesus' feet and I saw a post at America magazine's blog today by Fr. Francis X. Clooney, S.J. that mentioned this, in reference to the following act of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Here's part of his post ....

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Holy Thursday 2010: Everyone needs their feet washed

[...] we should remember that he [Jesus] had just had his feet washed, in the preceding chapter of John, when he was dining with Martha and Mary, and Lazarus, at their house. Not to be confused with the sinful and repentant woman in the other Gospels, Mary washes the feet of Jesus, and lavishes costly perfume on them. Jesus accepts this ministry, and only Judas condemns it as overdramatic and wasteful. I can only imagine that when the Last Supper came, Jesus was still been reflecting on the tender intimacy and care of that scene, and realized that even on this most solemn night he might share the experience with his friends at table: as my feet have been washed, I wash yours; and you too, care for one another in this way .....

On Holy Thursday 2010, we need to take all this to heart. The Church is still a place of holiness, love, and service, yet it also a Church that is partly dirty, partly in need of cleansing. There is no longer a Church in which anyone can imagine himself only the washer of feet, and not one in need of washing as well. It is no longer a Church in which cleansing comes only from above. Perhaps we priests — and bishops and cardinals and the pope — can rethink how we commemorate Jesus’ humble, cleaning, tender action this Holy Thursday? Even today, we may indeed be a lot like Peter the first Pope — who did not want his feet to be washed — but like that same Peter, even today we might learn to be like Jesus, who let his feet be washed by a woman who was his friend, and then shared the experience with his other friends by doing the same for them.

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