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In recent times it has become fashionable in Christian spirituality to put great emphasis on service to our neighbour and to equate service with prayer. There is much truth in this idea, but it is a half-truth. There can be no substitute in the spiritual life for being alone with God. There must be that part of spirituality which is private and individual - secret
between me and my God. It is that daily attempt to become increasingly aware of the presence and the action of God in our lives and to know the growing desire within us for some kind of closeness to him.
- Basil Hume
(What part of this message speaks to you?)
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EX 12:1-8, 11-14; PS 116:12-13, 15-18; 1 COR 11:23-26
JN 13:1-15
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into
his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
"Master, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"What I am doing, you do not understand
now,
but you will understand later."
Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
Jesus answered him,
"Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."
Simon Peter said to him,
"Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well."
Jesus said to him,
"Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all."
For he knew who would betray him;
for this
reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean."
So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another's feet.
I have
given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do."
USCCB Lectionary
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John 13: 1-15 (Jesus washes the apostles feet)
This is Jesus’ final evening with his apostles. He begins to say farewell and prepares for the treachery to come. Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize the sharing of
the bread and wine, with Jesus asking the apostles to remember him in that manner. John, however, shows Jesus washing the apostlesÕ feet as the last symbolic intimacy he will share with them.
* Bishop Sheen once wrote that, “although we have Jesus’ example of the washing of the apostles’ feet as a model of service, it is difficult to find people today fighting for the towel.”
What are some of the lowly jobs at home and at work you avoid because you feel they are beneath your dignity?
* Pray for the grace to be washed clean of false pride.
Paperback, Kindle
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God and I: Exploring the Connections between God, Self and Ego, by Philip St. Romain, 2016 (2nd ed.) ____________ Chapter 3: Ego (excerpts)
There is nothing wrong with having an Ego. If there were, then we would have to say that it was a mistake for God to have endowed us with an intellect and will -- that we should be, instead, present and passive at all times, contemplatively
reflecting divine light to all things around us. But that is not how things are. Intellect and will are oriented to reflectively and intentionally engage the outer world, and our doing so is a good and natural thing. We have needs that we cannot gratify by simply being aware, and so we must learn how to meet these needs and engage ourselves in the process of doing so. This naturally brings us into contact with other people and the world around us -- with “duality,” as it were. We assign names to
this and that, to him and her, and so develop an inner life as we imaginatively consider different possibilities for interacting with other people, places and things. Language enables us to communicate with others about a wide variety of issues, and we come to discover that some of our deepest needs and longings are difficult to put into words. As with other needs, the intellect and will seek gratification of our spiritual longings, reflectively and intentionally engaging the culture in pursuit
of ways to meet them. We investigate the religious tradition we were raised in, then perhaps others. What we cannot do is get rid of the longings -- at least not forever. Nor can we “turn off” the operations of the intellect and will in their natural orientation to meet these and all the other kinds of needs we experience during our lives. Hardback, paperback, eBook and free preview versions.
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