John 13:1-15
This Gospel is about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, and it teaches us about what love really is. The modern definition of love can be misconstrued and confused with infatuation. This reading helps us to learn that to understand love we must develop an intimate relationship with Jesus because “God is love.” What Jesus is trying to teach is that love is not self-centered, but rather of complete self- abandonment. Love is giving yourself for the sake of others, and being servants to one other so that we may be in communion with them. When we are baptized, we are made clean of original sin. By washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus is not only demonstrating that they are called not to be served but to serve, but also to remind them that we always have our feet dirty as we fall short in our daily lives. By recognizing our faults and trying to love as God calls us to love, the Lord is washing our feet to be reconciled with Him again.