HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY. (5)

HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY.

THEME: Service with a Smile.

BY: Deacon Bill Frere.

Gospel – John 13:1-15

So what did you have for breakfast this morning? A bowl of cereal? Eggs and bacon? Maybe an English muffin with orange marmalade? If I asked, what is your favorite breakfast? Why? What memories does it bring to mind?

OK, so now that I have your attention and your appetite whetted, here’s a little breakfast story!

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, “Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

Let’s face it! None of us really wants to be Jesus! It’s too hard, too demanding! We know it will involve a lot of self-sacrifice, much less some pain,. I mean – we have to love everyone, do good for everyone, respect and serve everyone! No! Let someone else do it! I pass!

RELATED: HOMILY FOR HOLY THURSDAY.

And yet that is exactly what Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel! Follow My example and serve others! Lead by serving others! Jesus and the Apostles are gathered together for their celebration of the Passover. In the middle of the meal, the Last Supper, Jesus gets up and washes the feet of His disciples. He performs the role of a servant, not a master, not a teacher, but a lowly servant and he reminds the apostles they must do the same. It is a reminder to us all that it is in giving that we receive!

It reminds me of our years-long Covid journey when we furiously washed our hands at every opportunity – before and after meals, every time we came home from the store (and after we washed down all our groceries), and how often we carried around with us our own personal hand sanitizer. Maybe we even spent a good deal of time teaching our kids how to properly wash/sanitize our hands! Didn’t we go through the ritual by singing ‘happy birthday’?

Of course, there are very few opportunities to wash someone’s feet these days! But as Easter approaches and we have the chance to gather with family and friends for Easter dinner, consider the ways you can still ‘serve others’. Maybe we can help clean the house! Maybe help set the table! Help serve the meal! Maybe we could even offer to make one dish for the family meal! In fact, why not split up the entire menu so that each person makes a dish and it truly becomes a family meal!

Simple but meaningful actions! But they are a reminder that we are all called to serve! We are all called to be Jesus! Whether we gather around a dinner table or we gather around an altar, whether we gather to feed our body or feed our souls, we gather TOGETHER! On this day, Jesus gave us the gift of Himself in the Eucharist. Let us all thank Him with the gift of ourselves, in serving Him by being of service to each other.

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