My reflection is from Living Faith:
…. Jesus knew that his our had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. John 13:1
In my fifteen years as a hospice volunteer and being with loved ones of dying relatives, I’ve known an awesome sacredness mixed with aching sadness when someone’s death approaches. I imagine a similar atmosphere during Jesus’ farewell to his beloved disciples – the palpable sense of love, the excrutiating depths of sorrow . The tenderness as he expressed his love for his friends was only surpassed by the astounding gesture as he wrapped a cloth around his waist and bent to wash their sweaty, dirty feet. John’s account of this does not mention tears, but surely they were a wash in the disciples’ hearts that evening. Now is the time to strengthen and expand that kind of love in us so that when the time arrives for our departure, our hearts will be a similar overflowing container of love.” Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M.