4th Thursday of Easter

In the Gospel today, after Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master, nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.”

Suppose we were in the church praying all by our self, when suddenly Jesus appeared to us and asked us to be seated in a chair. And then Jesus knelt down, took off our shoes and used a basin to wash our feet. How would we feel, if Jesus, the Son of the Eternal Father, He who is God, knelt down and began to wash our feet? Surely, we would feel humbled and perhaps maybe even tears would well up in our eyes.

May be we would say to Jesus, “Lord, it is I who should be washing your feet. After all, you created the universe and you created me, you gave me life and you sustain me. You gave me a spouse and family and children. You are the creator, I am a creature. You give me food, clothing and shelter. You are my master. I am your slave. You are infinitely greater than I, and I am an unworthy sinner.”

Our Lord washed the feet of His Disciples to give them an example. He wanted to remind them that a slave is no greater than his master and that they are called to serve others, as He has served them.

And this is what we should do too. We are called to serve to serve each other. We should say to our self, how can I serve the members of my family? What is the most difficult and dirtiest task? I may not be called to wash feet, but perhaps I am called to clean the toilet, to scrub the floor.

A Poor Clare sister once said, “I am so tired of doing the book keeping. I want to do something for Jesus that is holy. I want to be sacristan and to put out the chalice. I want to prepare the items for Mass and work in the chapel, so that I can be with Jesus. But here I am counting money and paying bills”. The priest told her, “Sister, it is more pleasing to the Lord that you count money and pay bills, because this is what He is asking of you. The more difficult and the more lowly the job, and the more we do it with love and joy, the more pleasing it is to Jesus.”

Today, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, She who is the handmaid of the Lord, to give us the graces we need-- to serve others by our willingness to do the lowliest and dirtiest tasks. Remembering that whatever we do to the least of others, we do for Jesus.