St. John begins his lengthy account of the Lord’s Last Supper with these words: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved His own in the world and He loved them to the end.” There, the Lord performed several acts that demonstrate the utter extent to which He loved His disciples.

When we speak of love—specifically of God’s love—we know it to be perfect. This divine perfection is set before us as we reflect upon the mysteries of the Lord’s Passion and Death. To understand love—and how it is revealed to others—we must first look to our own human nature. We are spirits inhabiting bodies, and those spirits rely upon our physical forms for expression. When we are sad, our eyes shed tears; when joyful, our faces radiate a smile. Ultimately, our spirits require our bodies to manifest their most essential nature.

Because of this, to truly demonstrate our love for another, we must perform actions through our physical bodies. We know this truth well: for our words to be effective, they must be accompanied by our deeds. If we tell someone we love them, we must validate those words with concrete actions. These manifestations of love are, essentially, acts of sacrifice. We do something for the beloved; we go out of our way; we give of our time. We demonstrate love most clearly when we make a sacrifice for another—when we take on their pain and make it our own. In understanding this, we can begin to perceive the depths of the love of God.

God did not remain in heaven merely telling us how much He loved us. The mystery of the Incarnation lies in this: to demonstrate His love, God became one of us—taking on our flesh so that He might sacrifice Himself for our sake.

The events of the Last Supper speak profoundly of God’s love. First, He washed His disciples' feet—an act of deep spiritual significance. Just as the Lord stooped to wash away the dust of the road, He came to wash away the filth of our sin. By lowering Himself to their feet, He signified His descent into this world through the miraculous Incarnation and, ultimately, His humbling of Himself even unto death for our salvation.

Second, the Lord bequeathed the Eucharist to His disciples as the ultimate sign of His love. While His complete sacrifice on the Cross demonstrates the perfect measure of His love for us—giving Himself totally—the Eucharist is the Sacrament in which that love remains present. It does not merely represent His love; rather, in the Eucharist, God Himself comes to us to renew His covenant of love.

Third, the Lord ordained His disciples as the first priests of the New Covenant. In His providence, the Lord ensured that there would always be priests to make the celebration of the Eucharist possible. The Sacrament of Holy Orders stands as yet another profound sign of His marvelous love for us.

Fourth and finally, the Lord gave His disciples a new commandment: 'I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.' In this light, the Lord’s Passion and Death constitute the greatest splendor of His love; they serve as the ultimate standard by which we, too, must love one another."

Considering the Lord’s marvelous example of love at the Last Supper, we might ask ourselves this evening: how deeply do we truly love? To what lengths are we willing to go to demonstrate that love for our families and those around us? Let us humbly ask the Lord for His grace, that we may love others just as He has loved us.