Services at Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph

Services at Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph:

...Good Friday, April 15 at 5pm with The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman

...Easter Sunday, April 17 at 10am with The Rev. Paul Martin

From the Forward Day by Day:

THURSDAY, April 14          Maundy Thursday

John 13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

Maundy Thursday services that include foot washing have always been the most meaningful Holy Week services for me. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that foot washing probably has the same effect on people today as it did in the time when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. The disciples were shocked: Jesus, the Son of God, is going to touch our feet? He knows how dirty they are. The Messiah should not have to do something so dirty and degrading.

Honestly, I do feel a little dirty when the moment approaches for my feet to be washed. And I don’t relish touching and washing someone else’s feet. But I am always glad I participated. There is a holiness in this service, a sacred moment in which we push past the dirtiness of each other and our own discomfort to be in human contact and divine relationship.

[April's meditations are offered by Patrick Kangrga, lay minister serving as director of youth ministries at St. James Episcopal Church in Jackson, Mississippi.]