A humbling experience from Holy Thursday 

Fr Gerry Hastie MHM, Vicar General for the Mill Hill Missionaries in Europe & North America, shared his reflection of sharing Maundy Thursday with a community in India. 

‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done for you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet’. – John 13: 1-15 

Fr Gerry visited northern India where Mill Hill Missionaries have been working for around 16 years. The mission is a Catholic Ashram in Vishunpur, Chhattisgarh and is set among the Dalit people, who are considered outside of the caste system (sadly seen as ‘untouchables’). 

The mission serves families spread over six villages and has established a primary school, run with the help of the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk. The school – with over 300 pupils – is highly respected in the area.  

Fr Gerry shared: 

‘I arrived at the mission in the afternoon of Holy Thursday. For the people, who are considered untouchable, touch is very important. New visitors are invited to sit and have their feet washed – I was no exception. 

‘It was a very hot day, I was wearing sandals and my feet were swollen and sweaty with the heat and dirty with the dust – I was invited to sit and a Sister removed my sandals and bathed my feet and then anointed them with oil. 

‘It was a very uncomfortable, but humbling experience. It struck me – perhaps for the first time – the impact that this action of Jesus must have had on the disciples when he washed their feet. It was a necessary action – people had been walking all day, their feet dirty, sweaty and probably not smelling too sweetly – before people sat down to eat, and an action normally reserved for a servant or young person. 

‘Jesus washed their feet – he met them where they were dirty, smelly, unattractive – this is how God meets us, how God met me through the Sister who bathed and anointed my feet. In the evening, I had the opportunity to reciprocate that gift of welcome through washing the feet of a few of the elders from the nearby village during the celebration of the Eucharist of Holy Thursday. 

‘Mill Hill Missionaries work and live with the people. They provide primary education for pupils from Hindu, Muslim and Christian backgrounds. The fact that missionaries live and work with the Dalit people lets them know that they are not forgotten. They help them to recognise that no one is ‘untouchable’ to God.’ 

Together in Christ 

In Christ we are one family. Thank you for everything you do to support our sisters and brothers around the world. We continue to walk with them through our support for the missionaries who serve them – both prayerful and financial.  

Please join us in prayer today: 

Lord,
open my eyes and my heart,
that I may see your image
in all those around me.
Give me the courage to stand up
for the dignity of every person,
including myself. 
 

Amen.