Fr. Ron Rolheiser in his book, “Our One Great Act of Fidelity,” writes that the Eucharist is the ultimate sacrament of reconciliation. It is the ancient water of cleansing, now turned into the new wine of reconciliation, that purifies us so that we can enter the house and celebrate. When John describes Jesus as taking off his outer garment, he means more than just the stripping off of some physical clothing, some outer sash that might have gotten in the way of his stooping down and washing someone’s feet. To let go of the pride that blocks all human beings from stooping down to wash the feet of someone different from oneself, Jesus had to strip off a lot of outer things – pride, moral judgments, superiority, ideology, and personal dignity – so as to only wear his inner garment. What was his inner garment? It was his knowledge that he had come from God and was going back to God. Therefore, all things were possible for him, including his washing the feet of someone whom he already knew had betrayed him.