"The Christian way is not so much a way of escape as it is a way of presence: the presence of the people who love us and the presence of God who is love." Fr. George Smiga

"We as Christians cannot always protect ourselves from evil, but we can always celebrate love" Fr. George Smiga

“'love one another as I have loved you' is manifested in…the washing of feet. But the full revelation of this love is manifested in what Jesus is about to do. On the following day he will lay down his life for his friends.” Fr. Geoffrey Plant

“Do you love the Lord, church? Where is that end? Pray that we never find it cuz God's love is infinite and ours should be too.” Fr. Oscar Pratt

“in reading the gospels I am intrigued by Jesus common practice of asking questions. I see each question as an invitation...to engage at a deeper level with Christ and our own inner being. An invitation for you and me to ponder our personal relationships with the divine and each other” Leslye Colvin

“when you ask how many people were there that evening the right answer is 'we don't know.' So how many people will that table accommodate? As many as will say 'Amen' to the God who so loves us.” Fr. Oscar Pratt on the Last Supper

“Have you ever had that experience, have you ever had to watch someone that you love do something so self-sacrificial for you that it hurt and you wanted to say no?” Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ on the Washing of the Disciples’ Feet

“Can we choose to love to the utmost? To engage humbly with one person at a time, to offer refreshment and tenderness to the weary soul, to look with extraordinary love into the eyes of the person in front of us, and convey that they are of infinite value?” Kathy Baroody

“he fully was aware of what he was about. He got up and his purpose was to get down. His purpose was to get down, to kneel down and to serve.” Fr. Stephen Thorne on John 13:1-15

"No matter who we are, we are united in service with one another so that one day we shall be united with our God in the Kingdom of Heaven” Fr. Tony Ricard

“what if he also points to this simple meal and in saying 'this is my body' he's saying 'I'm in this. I'm in these simple gestures of love. The most basic of all. I'm in this. I'm right here.'” Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ on John 13:1-15

“People want to believe without belonging. However, believing the Good News entails belonging to the Church. Belonging is essential for wholeness and holiness.” Fr. Geoffrey Plant

“Instead of worrying of self-preservation, we can be worried about the salvation of all God’s children” Monsignor Raymond East

“Do we see as we look at our table not only who is there but who is not there? Who is not invited or who is invited but cannot gain access?” Dr. Kim R. Harris, Ph.D. on Holy Thursday

“The new commandment of love is no longer a norm, a law. It is therefore not an obligation, rather, it is the response to the love that God has for us” Marilyn Santos

“we are continually invited to enter in the pilgrimage of discipleship with Jesus that is rooted in mercy and love” Natalie Terry

“Holy Thursday places before us the challenges involved in following Jesus' model of service among the people of God” Virginia Saldanha

“how can we contrive to make our lives a gift? How can we contrive to take not the highest place but the lowest place?” Bishop Robert Barron

“Christ serves so that we can be more fully servants as he is, because with God, lordship and service are one” Fr Euan Marley

“It is in becoming like Jesus as part of his body that our natural response to each other should be one of love, and that means serving each other even at risk to ourselves” Archbishop Malcolm McMahon

“When all your body parts move, function, and generally make it possible for you to live, it is hard to fully appreciate what a gift God gives us in being able go about the business of living every day” Mary Ortwein

“Consider then what Jesus shows us by washing feet. It is not just about being the recipient. It is the measure of how we are to love, of how we are to live now.” Fr Dermot Morrin

“Jesus takes the place of the lowliest servant and washes the disciples’ feet. Not because they are worthy, but because they are dirty...Both our personal sin, and the sin of the world which has hurt us – sometimes in very concrete ways.” Fr Dominic White

“Christ is the way, but we must make him our way. We have to make the journey that he makes possible for us our own in freedom.” Fr Allan White

"In today’s world of fear and violence, look for the helpers. Be a helper." Kim Fischer

“Are we so caught up in financial outcomes, the laurels of work, and a competitive society that we lose the message of love, freely given by our God, that Jesus taught us to model? Do we encourage service to others?” Kim Fischer

“Obedient, loving service –that was Jesus’ understanding of His Passion. That’s how He would save the world from the rebellious pride of sin. That’s what the washing of the feet proclaimed!” Fr Isidore Clarke

“when Christ saves us he doesn’t just return us to the state we were in before sin. On the contrary, he elevates our human natures so that we conformed to God” Fr Dominic Ryan

“Now since the genuineness of a symbol depends on the reality of the relationship between the signifier and the thing signified, Christ’s substantial presence in the Eucharist and the representation of His sacrifice on the cross makes the Eucharist the most genuine symbol of all” Fr Robert Verrill

“We, like Jesus, have been called to serve God and each other.” Fr Isidore Clarke

“As Peter’s surprise at Jesus’ teaching demonstrates, sometimes being open to being served is more difficult than serving. True relationship and connection happens when the service goes both ways. Everyone has something to offer.” Angel Mortel

“There is no other way of preaching the Gospel to the multitudes than by passing through the dust and mess of the world in which they are; you cannot love and keep your feet clean...Sacrifice and fruitfulness are bound up together; they cannot be separated at any stage.” Fr Allan White

“religion is also about the need for us to make gifts to the divine, to make offerings which are visible and tangible and precious, and which express our devotion and our love, sacrifices that are channels of a communion between the human and the divine” Fr Simon Gaine

“the constant celebration of the Eucharist is a constant reminder to us of what Jesus offers: unity with him and with one another in his Body” Fr Fabian Radcliffe

“human pride is undone by the humility of God. Jesus’ way of humility and service finally shows us what love is.” Fr Vivian Boland

“Jesus washing his disciples’ feet leaves this message: It’s more important to be in union in Christ and each other than to be liturgically, aesthetically, and politically correct. What the Eucharist asks of us, among other things...to give up our right to be right!” Ron Rolheiser

“that love we have for each other is God’s love within us. It cannot be destroyed.” Fr John Patrick Kenrick

"The Eucharist invites us to step down from pride, away from self-interest, to turn the mantel of privilege into the apron of service, so as to help reverse the world’s order of things wherein pride, status, and self-interest are forever the straws that stir the drink." Ron Rolheiser, OMI

“the Eucharist is not a private act of devotion, meant to square our debts with God, but a call to and a grace for service. The Eucharist is meant to send us out into the world ready to give expression to Christ’s hospitality, humility, and self-effacement.” Ron Rolheiser, OMI

“the Eucharist is the meal that marks the transition from slavery to sin to the glorious freedom of the children of God” John Bergsma

“When Jesus washes the feet of his disciples he acts out a kind of prophetic sign or sacrament of his whole life and mission. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God.” Fr Gregory Murphy

“If we want to know what our new life in Christ looks like, we look at the Cross” Fr Richard Ounsworth

“Love is the power which originally created the world and it is love which will establish it afresh in its original goodness” Fr Thomas Skeats

“To refuse another person’s act of love, no matter how small, is to refuse Christ’s love. We are accustomed to seeing the face of Christ in others that we serve, but it is difficult sometimes to see Christ’s face in those who wish to serve us.” Laura Kazlas

“The global economy as we know it today is wedded to the essential character of infinite growth without consequences...One option offered by our sacred scriptures is the economy of kinship which others have called an economy of sharing” Fr. John Sivalon, MM

“If he loved us to the bitter end of his passion and death, then we must love one another, because it is precisely through such love that we shall be alive with the new life which he has won for us” Fr Austin Milner

Very thankful to all the preachers, spiritual writers who help explain the readings for this Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. Definitely got a more profound understanding of the meaning of the scriptures👇🏽 gatherclip.com/reflections/...

"Are we going with him all the way? Will you follow Jesus into a tomb?" Fr. Oscar Pratt

If you don't know, you should get to know Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo and his inspiring homilies for each Sunday Mass. Here are 3 he has done over the years for Palm Sunday: youtu.be/8t4CZIJZS-4 youtu.be/rgBLEprQmx0 youtu.be/usxIaN2ATqw

"The cross looks like defeat but it is salvation unfolding. Silence feels like absence but it is God acting in the deepest way...God is already working behind the scenes in ways you cannot yet see." Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo