“How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?” was the song we hard
in place for the responsorial psalm on Holy Thursday. Indeed how can we repay
Lord for loving us this much to extent of giving up his son for our redemption.
This redemption we remember was through Jesus passion, that we commemorate beginning
with Holy Thursday. This time, the mass in was animated by Kiwanuka team, with
its new chaplain, Fr. Yago. And as always, we were blessed with the company of
our dear friends and neighbours, including the Envagelising Sisters of Mary,
the Holy Cross Sisters, and the Benedictine Sisters.
One special creativity was intended gender balance in the disciples of
Jesus whose feet were washed, that is 5 ladies and 7 gentlemen. Surprisingly,
Peter seems to never get the intention of Jesus’ action of washing their feet.
In a way, it’s a reminder to us to always humble ourselves to do simple things
for others, just as Jesus did. It was from this that Fr. Yago signaled out the
intelligence in Jesus’ simple act; the intelligence of Compassion. He derived
this from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book titled Anger: Wisdom for Cooling
Flames, who adds that “understanding and compassion are very powerful
sources…. If you think that compassion is passive or weak’ then you do not know
what real understanding or compassion is.” This is why, as Fr. Yago observed,
we always have different feelings when a some good act is done towards us, or
when we are appreciated for something good we have done to others. We may feel
humbled, appreciated, empowered, exulted, or even at times we are just as dead
bodies and we are indifferent to all compliments. In concluding his Homily, he
left us with one for the road, from Henry Nouwen’s book Life of the
Beloved. He says, “To identify the movements of the spirit
in our lives, I have helpful to use four words; taken, blessed, broken, and
given.” In order to be beloved, we need to be taken and belong to him; to be
blessed means we are affirmed; to be broken is an indicator of our
vulnability,; while to be given means we live for others.
To pause the longest mass in the liturgical, we transferred the
Eucharist to the prepared garden of Gethsemane, and this was in our conference
room, where we adored in turns. The visitors were accompanied by Amans team,
followed by Tobbi kizza, then Mapeera, and lastly Kiwanuka concluded, venturing
till the next day at 00:20 hours. However, all went as planned and the evening
was a colourful one. That why I always wonder how we can repay the Lord for his
continued goodness to us.
Aloysius Naamara