Readings:
Titus 2:1-8,11-14
Luke 17:7-10
Reflection:
“My reflection today revolves around the art piece that we see. In the gospel reading today, we hear Jesus speak on the tasks of servants. I thought instead of reflecting on that gospel we would reflect instead on Jesus taking on the role of said servants in showing the washing of feet.
My reflection comes at a time of great divisiveness. Donald Trump has just taken victory and we can expect much of the world to be in various states of mind at this news. As we have this new (or old, depending on how you look at it) leader take charge, I want to reflect on the leader that Jesus was.
Jesus was not the traditional leader of his time. We see and hear the disciples battle against this. Even his most intimate friends believed that he would somehow take charge and excerpt control over his subjects. Yet, we see in the image perhaps the leader Jesus was and calls ALL of us to be.
The act of washing feet is not one that you would expect to be clothed in divinity or regalness yet this wonderful artwork shows it to be so. This act of leadership is something that we can all emulate in our own ways.
Last year I had the privilege of attending a mission trip to Vietnam through the Passionists. One of the places we visited was the Francis shelter. It is a place to which the most destitute and poor go. The shelter is the place where people go when there is nowhere else to go. They collect people dying on the streets and bring them into the shelter.
While there, I was astounded at how poor the conditions were for the people. Beds without mattresses (people just lay on the wire frame), 2 meagre meals a day, everyone wore ragged clothes, and most people had some form of mental health problems.
In one of the sections there was a makeshift jail cell set up and in there were 2 males. We were told that they were locked in to prevent them from fighting.
I looked from the outside, scared to approach. Father Peter (a Passionist Father), who was part of the group, did not seem to have the fear that I had. He simply approached the cell and lovingly reached a hand in.
I stood in shock. This man on the inside was violent, mentally unstable and very unclean. Yet Peter reached his hand in. The young man proceeded to grab his hand and the two connected. Peter prayed over him and the young man in the cell appeared to tear up. It made me wonder if anyone else in this man’s life had ever reached out to him?
When we hear the stories of Jesus washing the feet of others, the people in those same stories react the same way that I did in Vietnam. There is shock but also inspiration. Inspiration that calls us to be better and to reach out lovingly, despite what the consequences might be. I was lucky enough to see Jesus in Father Peter that day and we are all lucky that a piece of Jesus exists in all of us.
The question I am left with after this reflection is asking how we can let that part of Jesus shine out through us? How might we shape our version of leadership and vision to that of Jesus, extending out an ever-loving hand?
I pray that we can all (Particularly Donald Trump as he returns to his former role) take on this example of humility and learn that true leadership requires us to take the risk of loving courageously.”
Thomas Warren.