Is one image powerful enough to reframe and renew our thinking about the Christian life? We think the answer is a resounding yes!
 
In just a couple of days, on Holy Thursday, we will relive the moment when Jesus stooped to wash the feet of His disciples. “If I, therefore, the master and teacher,” Jesus says to His disciples, “have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
 
In this iconic corporal work of mercy, Jesus gives us a model for performing acts of service that’s worth pondering in this 5^th week of the month, when we focus on Hospitality & Service—Level 5 of a Trinity House. It’s a stunning model that serves as a precursor to the cross. Pope Francis has washed and kissed the feet of prison inmates, and the image is powerful beyond words.
 
What is Jesus teaching us in this act that we must somehow pass on to our children?

• to focus on the needs of others;
• that no kindness is too menial for his followers;
• that we do not need the place of honor.

In our own experience, we know how easy it is to slip into an attitude contrary to Our Lord’s profound gesture:  

• we focus on “the Big Me”;
• we view menial tasks as “beneath us”;
• we want to be first, to be served.

And yes, that’s all understandable. We are weak, wounded by the effects of original sin. Grace builds on nature, and sometimes our nature grows at such a slow pace. But despite all of our wounds and weaknesses, how can we teach our kids the redemptive power of a simple act focused on another’s needs, to prepare them to take up a life of service?

Yes, it’s important to look for opportunities to give our kids the experience of serving—by making food for a homeless shelter, visiting the lonely in a nursing home, or helping a neighbor with some household task. But, to be honest, when parents are busy washing their own children’s feet, sometimes it’s hard to imagine incoporating community service projects into the mix.

So, while we keep an eye out for service opportunities that don’t overwhelm, perhaps we can focus on forming our kids with a service mentality? Just the other week, we heard author Nicole Phillips speak on the topic of “The Best Way to Fix a Bad Mood.” Her suggestion? Perform an act of service at the very moment you feel yourself slipping into a bad or selfish mood. And that can certainly be done within our own family.
 
It’s almost as if an act of service short-circuits our inbuilt pride. The model that Jesus offers this Holy Thursday is the way out of the prison of our “all-about-me” mindset. The act of service gets us out of our head and involves our whole body—as we literally or figuratively stoop to put another first and serve.
 
As we prepare to walk with Our Savior in the sacred days ahead—from Holy Thursday to His Resurrection on Sunday—let’s focus on how serving others is the heart of our faith. From washing the feet of the disciples to death on the cross, Our Lord’s way of life was based on meeting the needs of others while entrusting His own needs to His Heavenly Father.

What a gift we are being given this week! A new opportunity to serve, to relearn the model that Jesus gave us, and to embrace the other-centered life He won for us by the cross and Resurrection!