A summary, with some quotes, of Benedict’s homily:

In the gesture of “washing the feet” we see the “God’s holiness, which is not only an incandescent power before which we must pull back terrified, but is also the power of love and because of this is a purifying and healing power. God descends becoming slave; he washes our feet so that we can be at the table. The mystery of Jesus Christ is in all this. In this, what redemption is becomes clear. The bath in which we cleanse ourselves is his love readied to face death. Only love has this purifying strength that wipes away filth end elevates us to God’s heights. The bath that purifies us is He himself who gives Himself totally to us, as far as the depth of His suffering and death. He is continually this love that cleanses. In the Sacraments of purification—baptism and the sacrament of penitence—He is continually kneeling before our feet and serving us as a slave, [performing] the service of purification that makes us capable of God. His love is inexhaustible; it really goes on till the end.”

But today, “what does ‘washing of the feet, concretely mean? Every deed of goodness for our fellows, especially for the suffering and those held in low regard, is like the service of the washing of the feet. The Lord calls us to do this, step down [from our pedestal], learn to be humble, have the courage to be good and available to accept refusal, and yet trust goodness and persevere in it. But there is also a deeper dimension. The Lord wipes away our filth with the purifying force of his goodness. Washing one another’s feet means above all forgiving one another other tirelessly, always ready to start together anew even when it seems pointless. It means purifying one another by helping each other and accepting that others help us; [it means] purifying one another by giving each other the hallow strength of God’s word and introducing  ourselves to the Sacrament of Divine Love.”

In its report, the AP hits on the high points, heading the story "Pope Calls Judas Double-Crosser in Homily" In a startling news flash:

Benedict’s homily adhered to the traditional portrayal of Judas as betraying Jesus.

And, the AP’s interpretation of the homily snippets above:

In his homily, Benedict said Jesus washed his disciples’ feet to purify them so they could join him at the Last Supper, the meal which the faithful believe Jesus shared with his apostles before he was betrayed by his apostle Judas and crucified.

Well, that is a rather crude reading, isn’t it? The way the Pope’s words struck me were in terms of love.  Earlier, he said, (I’m paraphrasing and summarizing) that what all of our pride (the root of all the other sins) does is to close us off from being loved and authentically loving. Union. Communion. So, to be joined to the Lord in this most astonishing gift of Eucharist, to really allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, to love in return and then let that love bear fruit, we must be washed, cleansed, purified. The story casts a legalistic tinge which isn’t at all in the homily. No surprise.

As is the focus on Judas. Just wait until the Stations. Let’s see what they pick out of that.