We are to touch people with a deep respect –
to touch them with tenderness. Our
hands, and not just our voices, may becomes vehicles of the love of Jesus. The Word became flesh, that our flesh may
become word. Our flesh, through the power
of the Holy Spirit, can reveal to people their value – that they are cherished
and loved by God.
Our hands are, in some mysterious way, a
source of revelation of communion.
Jesus, as he knelt down in front of the feet of his disciples, knows
that tomorrow he will be dead. But he
wants to have with each disciple a moment.
Not just to say goodbye.
Jesus wants contact with each one of these
people. He wants to touch them – to touch
their feet, to touch their bodies; to touch them with tenderness and love. Maybe to each one he says a word; maybe he
looks each one in the eye. There is a
moment of communion.
Jesus touched their bodies – a realization
that each one is the Temple of God. But
he also revealed to them that each one of them is beautiful, is chosen, and is
loved. To continue this mission, which is his mission, to announce the good
news to the poor, freedom to captives, sight to the blind, liberty to the
oppressed, and to announce a year of grace and forgiveness.
When Jesus is washing the feet of the
disciples, he is cleansing their feet to show that he wants to cleanse their
hearts. That is Jesus. He doesn’t judge, he doesn’t condemn; he cleanses. He just wants us to be people of the
resurrection – people who stand up; people who believe in ourselves and in our
gift; people who believe in the gift of Jesus – so that we can bring this gift
to our broken world.
--Excerpts from
Jean Vanier,
To read Jean
Vanier’s complete talk, click here.
Image source:
Sadao Watanabe, Jesus Washes Peter’s Feet
(ca. 1982), https://sites.google.com/site/sadaohanga/momigami-1980-1982
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