Model to follow: as I have done for you, you should also do

“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.’” (JN 13: 12-15)

Washing feet, the duty of servants, was done for the apostles by their “teacher and master,” by Our Lord. God himself gives them “a model to follow,” so that as He has done for them, they should also do for others. We will see this during Holy Thursday’s Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, but everyone is invited to respect and protect any other person’s dignity, to see her/him as better than me, as someone worthy of love, respect and service.

“I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.” (Gospel Acclamation)