麻豆约拍

Good morning. Pope Francis certainly caught the attention of the world's media when in 2013 on this day, Holy Thursday, he washed and kissed the feet of prisoners in an Italian jail: men and women; Christians, Muslims and non-believers. The following year he did the same with a group of elderly and disabled people.

These gestures were a profound sign of the Pope's desire to demonstrate the same abundant mercy of God for all mankind which had been shown by Jesus when He washed the feet of His disciples on the night he was betrayed.

In our country, we often call this day of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday. In times past, Kings and Queens also used to wash and kiss the feet of the poor on this day, replaced at the end of the seventeenth century by the gift of a silver penny - the origin of the Maundy Money still distributed today by the Queen, this year in St George鈥檚 Chapel Windsor.
Washing the feet of twelve people has continued to this day though in the Church's Holy Thursday liturgy. And this simple act is no empty ritual: in washing his disciples' feet Jesus did not diminish his position or dignity as their Lord, rather he showed in a very real way that all true leadership is rooted in love and service. He was prepared to serve everyone, even Peter who would deny Him and Judas, who would betray him.

God our Father, pour into our hearts the spirit of love and service which your Son showed to all men and women. Grant that we may never fail in our charity to those in need. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen