To watch Fr. Joe’s homily from Holy Thursday: CLICK HERE!
After three years of Jesus teaching his Disciples, not only in word, but by example, after example…
Jesus gathers for a meal, some say the Passover meal, the Jewish meal that remembers the Jews’ miraculous departure from Egypt, the end of a long and brutal period of slavery and the symbolic birth of the Jewish nation…
And now Jesus, with his friends, his Disciples, gives them one more example. He who is Master and Teacher, washes the feet of his Disciples an action reserved for the servant. And Jesus, goes a step further and says, probably to a startled group, “If, I can do this, your teacher and master, you need to do the same.”
And certainly, our minds might turn to the present day people who are indeed doing as Jesus asked… Yes, doctors and nurses, first responders and hospital personnel and many others who are selflessly caring for others, especially the sick.
And these people, some we know, some we will never know, are giving us example after example of unconditional love and care… and recognize them and applaud them we should.
BUT, maybe it should not stop there… Maybe we need to look around us and recognize the selflessness of others, maybe even ourselves. The examples of selflessness on the part of the Walmart worker… the grocery store cashier… the parents at home with the kids day, after day, after day and the kids at home with the parents day, after day, after day.
In recent days someone shared with me a person’s “aha” moment when it came to the people around them. How they had come to a better understanding of these people. How they had come to believe these people always had the person’s best interest in mind. How the Holy Spirit was guiding them in living the best life they could.
Just maybe Jesus is reminding us that there are times when we need to go above and beyond whatever limits or boundaries we think exists when it comes to SERVICE and CARE for one another, for others…
These days we call the Triduum… this Holy Thursday, is certainly about Jesus, but in a sense, it is also about his DISCIPLES – living the word; being the example that Jesus spoke about and lived.
What’s your story of faith, hope and love that you and I are not only living but hopefully teaching and encouraging others to do… Examples of service and care and so much more.
Talk about it after Mass tonight, as your gather around your supper table.
And then after dinner as we wash our hands and wash the dishes, let it be a reminder that service and care begins at home and flows out into the world.