Maundy Thursday Reflection

I reviewed something I wrote two years ago "Jesus washed Judas' feet - a New Commandment!" in which I reflected:
"The word Maundy comes from the Latin phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ("A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34) by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet"
Having learned some Latin now, I now understand how Maundy comes from the Latin word Mandatum; do vobis = (I) give you; and that the words diligatis and dilexi are from the same root word for "love" (dilectio) but the different conjugation (endings of the words) turn them into a command and an active verb respectively. It's interesting that the Greek translation of John 13:34 uses the Greek word "agapaō" (a self giving type of love), which the Latin word does not seem to convey. Anyway, Latin is  really a very sophisticated language but hard to learn well.

I have tried to take advantage of the many special church events during Lent, including spending an hour each Wednesday between 10-11pm before the Blessed Sacrament. It has been especially meaningful this year because of my illness and also a particular family conflict which causes a lot of heart ache. We have been receiving a lot of support from the Courage-Encourage community. In fact my wife and I have signed up to go to this year's conference in Chicago this summer. I am quite looking forward to that.

In the homily Father Joseph gave on the Passover with the Disciples passage, he pointed out two things I didn't know before:
1. When Jesus told His disciples, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. " what Jesus meant was that the betrayer was one of His close friends who shared meals with Him. That's why the "Agony in the Garden" brought so much pain not only because of the imminent suffering Jesus was going to face, but also because one of His closest friends would betray Him!
2. When Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.” Jesus was giving Judas one more chance to repent. He merely pointed it out to him that he could still decide to choose good rather than evil. Judas knew that Jesus knew. Judas knew that he would be betraying God who is all knowing.

That's why all the more significant was that Jesus washed even Judas' feet as a demonstration of what the New Commandment is like - on Maundy (command) Thursday.

Jesus taught us that we should love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. But He gave us a New Commandment on Maundy Thursday that we should love others as He has loved us. And how did He prove that love to us?

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)