Loving to the end!

Exodus 12:1–8, 11–14
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it. The lamb must be a year–old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. (...) the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.
This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”
The Eucharist has a long history; it was foreshadowed in the Old Testament (the 1st Reading). The lamb was a symbol of Christ. It was male and without blemish. It was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, and it was slaughtered during the evening twilight. Some of its blood was taken and applied put on the two doorposts. The blood on the doorposts served a purpose. The Lord PASSED OVER the house that had blood on the doorpost. That is why the Jewish feast was named Pass-over!
You will notice that Jesus celebrated the Eucharist at the time that every body else was busy slaughtering their Pass-over lamb. It was during this feast, on the night he was handed over, that Jesus took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 
As you know, for God there's no accidents nor coincidence but Providence. So, as the traditional Passover feast was running its course, Jesus was redefining this old event, calling it NEW COVENANT IN HIS BLOOD. 
All this means that, just as in Old Testament the blood of the lamb saved the Jews from death, now and today, the blood of Jesus saves us from death. This is why Jesus said and says in every Mass: Take and drink, this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, the blood that will be shed for you and for all, for the forgiveness of sins. It means that thanks to his blood, we too are spared, are passed-over, are forgiven, are saved. (Btw. This is why we call Jesus our Saviour!)
Gospel - John 13:1–15
"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."
Jesus knew all things had been given into his hands. He knew that his hour of humiliation was near, but he knew that his hour of glory was also near. Such a consciousness might well have filled him with pride; and yet, with the knowledge of the power and the glory that were his, he washed his disciples' feet. At that moment when he might have had supreme pride, he had supreme humility. 
Jesus knew that he had come from God and that he was going to God. He might well have had a certain contempt for men and for the things of this world. He might well have thought that he was finished with the world now, for he was on the way to God. It was just at that time when God was nearest to him that Jesus loved us to the end. The Gospel says, He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. How? 
"So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist."
You can't claim to love someone and not wash their feet. As I keep saying, love that does not translate into action, is false, in un real. 
Jesus loved "to the end". What does this mean? It means loving until the end, loving someone come what may; it means love that knows no boundaries or limits; it means that there's nothing you can not do for love's sake. It means stooping down to wash one's feet. It means love that begins from bottom up to top, from the feet to the head.
When did you last love this much? When did you last wash one another? Or you're like Peter. Peter at first refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet. Jesus told him that if he does, he will have no part in him. It is as if Jesus said: "Peter, are you going to be too proud to let me do this for you? If you so, you will lose everything." 
Today, let's wash and be washed, forgive and be forgiven, love and be loved. That's what Jesus tells us to do every time we go Mass: DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME!