Foot-washer

  Feast of Christ the King   Cycle B  Nov 20/21, 2021 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112121.cfm In 1963, there was a meeting between the first Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and the pope of the time Paul VI in Rome.   This was the first time that a Catholic president had met a pope, and there was quite a bit of speculation about one particular question: would JFK kneel down in front of the pontiff and kiss his ring.   Most Catholics of the time would be expected to do just that at a papal audience– but this was the so-called “leader of the free world,” a powerful person in his own right.   Kneeling would suggest subservience and would present political problems for the young president.   When they finally did meet, there was no kiss.  The two leaders shook hands and then proceeded to meet each other on an equal footing as human beings.   In the Gospel today, we have a similar tableau of two...

                        Feast of Christ the King Nov 21 & 22, 2020 What is your spirit animal?  Maybe you are familiar with the concept of ‘spirit animals.’  It originally came from the Lakota tradition of spiritual quests in which an animal spirit guide accompanies a teenaged seeker in a coming-of-age ritual.  It has entered into America pop culture.  People choose and animal they identify with or whose qualities they really like.  My spirit animal is a grizzly bear.  The animal for my four-year-old son EJ is a tyrannosaurus rex.     Many people choose a fierce animal—one that might be at home as the name of an NFL team.  A big cat—Lions, Panthers, Bengal Tigers,  Jaguars.  Or a bird of prey—Falcons, Eagles, Seahawks.  You get the idea.     Jesus has a spirit animal, too.  Can you...