During his Holy Thursday homily, our pastor shared 4 reflections regarding Jesus' action of washing his disciples' feet. Our Lord adopted a position of service, humility, vulnerability, and a willingness to do something unpleasant for the betterment of someone else.
As I reflect on Jesus' postures, I actually laugh out loud when I think of Peter saying "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well." (John 13:9) I laugh at the irony because this is me! I often feel like I need to bathe in the holy water font for a lot of the same reasons, I'm sure, Peter felt he needed Christ to cleanse his whole body.
We seek cleansing, even when we do not break a sweat. We cover ourselves in all sorts of good-smelling concoctions, perfume, and deodorant, in the hope of covering up our dirtiness, in the hope others will not smell us.
Do we not do the same thing with the dirtiness of sin? We hide it, sprinkle ourselves with accolades, seek out support and affirmation from everyone except the one person who knows us intimately and perfectly.
Rather than bathing in holy water, I need to bathe myself in God's love and mercy. This action needs to be followed by extending God's love and mercy to everyone around me and anyone I encounter, just as Christ extended it to his disciples. Then, and only then, will I smell like Jesus.
Image copied from priestjerry.com.
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