The following piece is from the monthly newsletter of Spiritual Directors' International. I think it applies to all of us, not only spiritual directors:
"Teenage feet. Female feet. Muslim feet. Atheist
feet. Dark feet. Light feet. The tattooed feet of a prisoner. These are the
feet the newly elected Pope Francis chose to wash on Maundy Thursday.
It takes courage and humility to ignore
liturgical laws and break with tradition to wash and kiss the feet of twelve
juvenile offenders in a detention center instead of washing the feet of twelve
priests in the basilica. It’s the kind of courage grounded in love that Jesus
modeled throughout his ministry. By turning upside down our staid assumptions
about how the world works, we are freed to imagine new ways of being in
relationship.
Washing someone’s feet is a tender act. Kissing
a stranger’s feet is an intimate act. Seeing photos of Pope Francis
compassionately tending to the young prisoners’ feet brought tears for me.
Rather than preaching in a basilica about scripture, the poor, and the
marginalized, Francis demonstrated with his actions the love and hope that
Jesus exhibited.
Francis explained to the young people at the
detention center on Maundy Thursday, "This is a symbol, it is a sign;
washing your feet means I am at your service. Help one another. This is what
Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with
my heart because it is my duty, as a priest and bishop I must be at your
service."
Can you imagine being in the shoes of one of
those teenagers? Here comes a seventy-something, gray-haired guy—a religious
leader which doesn’t mean much to you as an atheist—who offers to wash your
feet. You’ve agreed to participate because it might help your probation. The
old man kneels on the stone floor in a vulnerable position beneath you. You are
comfortably seated on a bench overlooking him.
As you take off your sneakers, it dawns on you
that your feet don’t smell very good. No matter. You are perhaps a tough,
street-smart, hard-hearted dude. Yet when the old man touches your feet ever so
gently and pours warm water over your calloused heals, you notice that it feels
good to be cared for. After drying your toes tenderly with a soft clean towel,
he bends to kiss your feet. Then searchingly, he looks you in the eye, saying,
"Don't lose hope. Understand? With hope you can always go on." He
hands you an Easter egg as a gift.
What a beautiful inspiration for April, for
Passover, and for Easter season. Every day, opportunities arise for us to be
courageously hopeful. As spiritual directors, we are called to be of service in
our world, to stand with and for our loving and compassionate God. May we
cultivate compassion by companioning seekers with the courage to say, “Don’t
lose hope. With hope you can always go on.”"
