Welcoming & Embracing the Stranger: Lenten Reflections with the Artwork of James Tissot

April 2, 2026 - Holy Thursday

This Holy Week, I have found myself moved by a single sentence in John’s Gospel: “Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” (Jn. 13:5). James Tissot’s painting, capturing the moment Jesus pauses before He kneels, has helped me to enter this scene more deeply, as it brings me on a meditative journey from Holy Thursday to Good Friday. 

I am captivated by Jesus’ upright posture and Judas’ aloof slouch.   

In the Upper Room, Judas sits awkwardly, leaning away from the disciples, his eyes gazing toward Jesus’ back. He looks as though he is holding one hand in the other, as if steadying himself.  

Jesus stands regally, looking composed and determined. Carrying a jug of water, He grips the jug with purposeful resolve. His right arm shows powerful strength.  

The King of Kings then will kneel before His disciples. Water will be poured from the jug onto the feet of the disciples. By the time Jesus finishes this task, the jug will be emptied. 

Later that night, Judas will essentially stab Jesus in the back with a kiss. His hands will hold thirty coins representing his treacherous betrayal. Jesus’ hands will be bound (Jn. 18:12) 

On Good Friday, Jesus’ arm will be bruised and bloodied, painful, and fatigued, as He carries the Cross. He will fall to His knees three times on the Via Dolorosa, and three times, he will rise and continue the agonizing path to Golgotha.  

The hand that bore the water jug will be nailed to a cross. The King of Kings will bow his head on the Cross and breathe His last. Blood and water will pour from His pierced side. Jesus, who emptied the water jug in humble service, has poured out his life for us in self-emptying love. 

On this Holy Thursday, might we pause as we ponder the washing of the disciples’ feet, and ask: 

Is my posture towards Jesus one of reverence and love or self-absorption and aloofness?  Have I invited Jesus into my life, including during the anxious and vulnerable moments?  Have I noticed and welcomed Jesus as He extends His love to me? Have I served Him, or have I adhered to my own plans? Have I knelt before Jesus in gratitude for his self-emptying love?  

May this Holy Thursday bring our hearts closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; may we rest there, peaceful in the assurance that He wishes to pour out his immense love for us. 

O God, who have called us to participate in this most sacred Supper, in which your Only Begotten Son, when about to hand himself over to death, entrusted to the Church a sacrifice new for all eternity, the banquet of his love, grant, we pray, that we may draw from so great a mystery, the fullness of charity and of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Dianne Traflet, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology

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