About Today
Thursday 2 April 2026
Maundy Thursday
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
Other saints: St John Payne (c.1550-1582)
2 Apr
Brentwood: 6 May
John Payne (or Paine) was born in Peterborough into a Church of England family but in his early adult life became a Catholic. He went to the English College at Douai in 1574 and was ordained priest in 1576; the short time he was at the college may suggest that he had studied theology elsewhere. He returned to England in the company of Cuthbert Mayne (1st December). He went to Essex where he stayed at the home of the Petre family in Ingatestone Hall. From here he ministered to local Catholics, while apparently working as an estate steward. In 1577 he was imprisoned for a short time, afterwards returning briefly to Douai. He came back to Essex and continued working as a priest until in 1581 he was once again arrested. He was imprisoned at Greenwich, being charged with conspiracy against the Queen, was racked in the Tower, and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. He denied the evidence brought against him completely, stating at his trial “that he always, in mind or word, honoured the queen’s majesty above any woman in the world; that he would gladly always have spent his life for her pleasure in any lawful service; that he prayed for her as for his own soul; that he never invented or compassed any treason against her majesty, or any of the nobility of England.” He was executed at Chelmsford on 2 April. He was so well known and respected in the neighbourhood that the crowd compelled the hangman to wait until he was dead before cutting him down. DK
In other years: Saint Francis of Paola (1436 - 1507)
Other saints: Blessed Pedro Calungsod (- 1672)
2 Apr
Philippines: 21 Oct
Maundy Thursday
Today's gospel reading John 13:1-15
Before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’
Reflection on the Carved Ivory Diptych
Like Peter, we can sometimes struggle to accept a God who loves in such a humble and unsettling way. Would we let Jesus wash our feet? We would certainly want to wash His feet, but we would feel uncomfortable letting Him wash our feet. Our reading is so current and relevant. Peter finds it difficult to allow Jesus to kneel before him and wash his feet. Yet Jesus responds firmly: if Peter refuses this act of service, he cannot remain in communion with him. If those words would be spoke to us, we would feel very shocked.
To belong to Christ means first allowing ourselves to be loved and served by him in the way he chooses. Only after receiving that love are we called to pass it on to others, loving as we ourselves have been loved. So we first must accept God's love, and only then can we pass it on.
Yet the washing of the feet points forward to something even greater. In humbly laying aside his garments to serve his disciples, Jesus anticipates the stripping off of clothes and complete self-giving that will unfold on the Cross the next day. The love revealed there is the same love we celebrate each time we gather for the Eucharist. The Eucharist draws us into the very same mystery the disciples experienced at the Last Supper: receiving Christ’s self-giving love so that we may carry that love into the world.
Diptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion, depicting from top left to bottom right: entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper; Christ washing his disciples' feet (middle left) and the Agony in the Garden; the Betrayal of Christ and the Crucifixion,
French, circa 1350-75,
Carved ivory
© Alamy
Maundy Thursday
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
Other saints: St John Payne (c.1550-1582)
2 Apr
Brentwood: 6 May
John Payne (or Paine) was born in Peterborough into a Church of England family but in his early adult life became a Catholic. He went to the English College at Douai in 1574 and was ordained priest in 1576; the short time he was at the college may suggest that he had studied theology elsewhere. He returned to England in the company of Cuthbert Mayne (1st December). He went to Essex where he stayed at the home of the Petre family in Ingatestone Hall. From here he ministered to local Catholics, while apparently working as an estate steward. In 1577 he was imprisoned for a short time, afterwards returning briefly to Douai. He came back to Essex and continued working as a priest until in 1581 he was once again arrested. He was imprisoned at Greenwich, being charged with conspiracy against the Queen, was racked in the Tower, and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. He denied the evidence brought against him completely, stating at his trial “that he always, in mind or word, honoured the queen’s majesty above any woman in the world; that he would gladly always have spent his life for her pleasure in any lawful service; that he prayed for her as for his own soul; that he never invented or compassed any treason against her majesty, or any of the nobility of England.” He was executed at Chelmsford on 2 April. He was so well known and respected in the neighbourhood that the crowd compelled the hangman to wait until he was dead before cutting him down. DK
In other years: Saint Francis of Paola (1436 - 1507)
Other saints: Blessed Pedro Calungsod (- 1672)
2 Apr
Philippines: 21 Oct
Maundy Thursday
Today's gospel reading John 13:1-15
Before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’
Reflection on the Carved Ivory Diptych
Like Peter, we can sometimes struggle to accept a God who loves in such a humble and unsettling way. Would we let Jesus wash our feet? We would certainly want to wash His feet, but we would feel uncomfortable letting Him wash our feet. Our reading is so current and relevant. Peter finds it difficult to allow Jesus to kneel before him and wash his feet. Yet Jesus responds firmly: if Peter refuses this act of service, he cannot remain in communion with him. If those words would be spoke to us, we would feel very shocked.
To belong to Christ means first allowing ourselves to be loved and served by him in the way he chooses. Only after receiving that love are we called to pass it on to others, loving as we ourselves have been loved. So we first must accept God's love, and only then can we pass it on.
Yet the washing of the feet points forward to something even greater. In humbly laying aside his garments to serve his disciples, Jesus anticipates the stripping off of clothes and complete self-giving that will unfold on the Cross the next day. The love revealed there is the same love we celebrate each time we gather for the Eucharist. The Eucharist draws us into the very same mystery the disciples experienced at the Last Supper: receiving Christ’s self-giving love so that we may carry that love into the world.
Diptych with Scenes from Christ's Passion, depicting from top left to bottom right: entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper; Christ washing his disciples' feet (middle left) and the Agony in the Garden; the Betrayal of Christ and the Crucifixion,
French, circa 1350-75,
Carved ivory
© Alamy