Holy Thursday
Loving Service
Thought for the day (from Fr. Kieran O’Mahony)
There is much more to the washing of the feet than an example of humble service. The act of loving service goes to the heart of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The “lifting up” in John’s Gospel is truly an act of loving service. The words at the start of this reading make that clear: Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. These words make it clear that whatever happens next points most deeply to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Can we accept such astonishing love from God?
HOLY THURSDAY
Tomorrow I am celebrating an adult baptism, which is something much more impressive than an infant one. Mary McAleese highlighted an aspect of baptism that we don’t often think of — that it obliges the baptized person to obey church law. But in the renewal of the baptismal promises we do not focus on that aspect either, but more on the general moral, spiritual, and credal aspect.
Likewise, many priests seem to be chary of the renewal of priestly promises at the chrism mass. They might even feel it involves a form of moral blackmail. Here again we might differentiate between the canon law aspect and the moral and spiritual aspect. I hear Archbishop Eamonn Martin in a vocations promotion video refer to celibacy as ‘expressing one’s sexuality appropriately,’ something that sounds not too problematic, and something imposed by moral and spiritual sensibility rather than the letter of canon law. The promise of obedience likewise can be renewed in the sense of generous cooperation with the bishop rather than in terms of canon law.