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Thursday, March 28, 2013

John 13:1-15 Holy Thursday

The Lord of all creation bends down to wash the feet of his disciples. How embarrassed they must have felt, confused, insecure and ashamed by the great “kenosis” that was occurring before them. Peter’s refusal, “you will never wash my feet,” seems not only appropriate but even necessary. Is it not man who should be serving God rather than God serving man? Is it not man who should be humble and lowly before God and not God being humble and lowly before man? God’s ways are never our ways. 

Isn’t this the “scandalous” truth of the Eucharist? God remains lowly and humble, stripped of his glory, silent and obedient before us. To our senses He is unrecognizable, yet God penetrates beneath our senses. In the Eucharist, with the eyes of faith, God speaks softly to our souls, he “washes” us again and again in the hopes that we can believe more firmly in this God who has emptied himself. What is true of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples is true of the Eucharist. His power lies in his humility, and his beauty is a self-offering that is complete, so much so that our eyes need to be readjusted and our hearts softened so as to see the glory that is before us.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

Sacred Heart Friary
Ft. Worth, TX
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1 comment:

  1. …our eyes need to be readjusted and our hearts softened so as to see…

    In the past, that thought communicated the negative; “A blind fool like you could never understand.” Psychology teaches the importance of emotional priming, the tricks of human perception, cognitive processes that rely on past patterns whether they’re right or not, and so on. As I ran experiments on myself, I learned that the psyche has to be centered and congruent with the energy it seeks to understand, especially when working with intuition. Toss out the negative moral implications and be significantly encouraged; “How exciting! You’re discovering that which is unseen, that which lies beyond normal comprehension!” It’s a positive statement.

    Thanks.

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