Did you ever hear anyone say, “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it?” What’s the dirtiest job you’ve ever had?
My wife Susan is a volunteer at an animal shelter. All her life she has raised kittens and today she takes care of seven cats in our home who are indoor kitties and live the most wonderful life. Now, every day she scoops litters from their litter pans. Then about every six weeks, I take 6 five-gallon buckets to a pit we dug out along the side of a hill to dump and cover the litter to make into compost. Yes, it stinks a lot and I have to dig a hole in the pit for the litter and then cover the litter with soil and hopefully it will decompose in a few years. Yes, my boots need to be cleaned and I probably smell bad but someone has to do this job. That reminds me of other dirty jobs…
Collecting garbage, stocking grocery shelves, milking cows, picking crops, cleaning hotel rooms, bathing our feeble loved ones. These jobs don’t pay a lot of money, and they don’t get you invited to black-tie fundraisers. But someone has to do them because the people who perform these tasks are very important and special who choose to do these dirty jobs.
On Holy Thursday, Jesus gives us a commandment: “love one another as I have loved you.” He demonstrated his love by taking on the job of a slave, a woman, or a child. He, the rabbi and teacher, has made himself the lowest person in the room by doing the dirtiest job. He’s telling us that this is how we are to love one another, by seeing no distinction and no hierarchy. We are not to focus our energy on fame or wealth. We are not to keep score of achievements. We are not to judge, shame, or embarrass one another.
What we are called to do is see ourselves as servants of one another. We are to give and to acknowledge the sacredness of every person we encounter. Jesus gave us a second commandment on this night: “Do this in memory of me.” Then let us remember the dirtiest job anyone could ever do—hang on the cross as a shamed criminal. Do this, he tells us. Eat this meal. Share this bread with one another. Come to the table together as a family and recognize each other’s sin, each other’s need, and each other’s faith. Put away your pride, envy and greed and know that we all are one in Him.
To love like Jesus means seeing Christ in everyone. It requires adjusting our thinking. I am not the most important person in this church, or better than anyone else in this room, or entitled to special privileges. I have to let go of my jealousies, my resentments, my need to be appreciated like a god.
It may be a hard job to change the way you think and behave, but—in this fractured, broken world —it has got to be done. The Sonshine photo shows Fr Erick and myself washing the feet of his parishioners as a sign of Our Lord’s love for each of us.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that in our moments of exhaustion and frustration we allow You to wash our fears and restore our strength and courage.
