We Are Unimportant, The Message Is

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟑:𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟗:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟕 “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟑:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟎

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “.. 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓,” (𝒗.16) 

         Today’s gospel passage may be short but there are two significant verses that serve as a reminder of our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. One is found at the beginning of the gospel when Jesus told his disciples: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝒗.16)        

         The preceding scenario has Jesus washing the feet of his Apostles, an act that could be equated to that which slaves do during his time. Tradition has it that for someone regarded as a Rabbi and or Prophet to wash the feet of the guests at a feast was to be done only by a slave and what Jesus did was something no one could have ever dreamed of.

         The symbolism of this event was not on the act itself although Jesus may have done so to set an example of humility for his Apostles especially when they will be on the road to proclaim the Good News to the world. We probably missed the highlight of this scenario which was on the water which even during the time of Jesus was associated with baptism.

         In the early Church and even today, baptism with water is normally referred to as the washing of entry which means that it is through baptism that we are admitted into the body of Christ which is the Church. As men have all been created in the image and likeness of God, it presupposes that we all need to remain connected with Christ through the Church for us to remain in the image and likeness of God.

         But that is not the case as men are corrupted between the time we have been baptized to the time that God finds us and brings us back into the heavenly path. I grew up in a deeply religious family setting. I studied in a Catholic School, but the world got the better of me as I stepped into my professional life as a media practitioner.

         It was good while it lasted but notwithstanding the material rewards of my worldly preoccupation, frustration and even depression began to set in as none of these could satisfy my hunger for that kind of joy that wouldn’t last and I’m grateful that God found me at a time when I was sinking deeper into sin and brought me to the Community where I have been serving the Lord in the past 36 years. 

         To all who belong to renewal communities, it would be wise for everyone to spend some time in solitude and try to understand what today’s gospel passage means because this is what Jesus wants us to do as he said: “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.17)        

         What Jesus asks of us is to grasp the meaning of the washing of the feet because if we understand that no slave is greater than their master, the inclination would be for us to also be happy to wash one another’s feet. Thus, we should all be reminded of this foot-washing event as an analogy for service and knowing that we are the slaves and Jesus is the Master, then we can actually say proudly: “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.”        

         The problem most of the time is that many of us take reading of the Word of God for granted. While using the literal translation as our way of reading the Scriptures is good, there are times when we are unable to go deeper than the surface of what we read such as in today’s gospel passage.

         Perhaps it would be a great daily exercise to include in our examen of conscience to always ask, am I more important than God? Do I know that I am not important than God? When we know the answer to these questions in that we can never be more important than God, then serving others can become second nature to us and we will find joy in serving others.

         But this is not always the case because more so often even in churches or communities, trouble arises when someone does not get the place or position he desires. Most of the time, this is caused by self-centeredness and looking at others with contempt. At times, even leaders of religious congregations are offended when they do not receive the honor and recognition they feel they are entitled to.

         There are times when leaders resign or step away from positions of responsibilities when they can’t have their way around and many forget that leadership is not about leading but it’s all about inspiring others to become servants and to lead others to Christ. This is what New Evangelization is all about – the proclamation of the Gospel to the world (Missio ad Gentes) and to lead others to a glorious re-encounter with Christ.

         Again, many forget that evangelization does not start with programs and projects but with prayer and it is through prayer that establishes our connectedness with God who is more important than we are. It saddens me to see apostolates and ministries taking great pains looking at ways to increase their number of members and, to keep their members from leaving and fall into the trap of adopting programs and plans to revive their ranks.

          But lost in translation is the need to encounter and re-encounter Christ which should set the tone for the yielding of the human spirit to the Will of God and the recognition that God owns us and that we can never be more important than God who is the source of everything that we have and of life itself.

         The only way an apostolate, ministry, community and Church can be revived to its former glory is when you can redirect your members to appreciating once again the joy of the gospel. To do otherwise is to share the bread with Christ but lift up our heels against him (𝐯.𝟏𝟖). Problems set in when the Word of God is set aside and or when it is either used sparingly or used selectively to satisfy your preferences and bias.

         “𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅-𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.” (2 𝑻𝒊 3:16) Perhaps it would be well worth the time to heed what St. Paul is saying and go back to the Word of God as the foundation of our faith.

         We lost or could lose the light that illumines our apostolates, ministries, and communities when we begin to rely on our human wisdom as more important than the Word of God. “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒆; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.20)

We are not drawing people in the Church or in our communities and keeping them in because they could not see in us the one who sent us. And the only way this declining interest of the people in God can be reversed is for us to proclaim once again the gospel of joy with joy and in joy. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘔𝘢𝘺 15, 2025)