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{"id":15524,"date":"2012-07-25T14:20:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T20:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=15524"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:06:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:06:14","slug":"from-magnificat-a-beautiful-meditation-by-jean-vanier-on-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/07\/from-magnificat-a-beautiful-meditation-by-jean-vanier-on-service\/","title":{"rendered":"From Magnificat: a beautiful meditation by Jean Vanier on service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

By washing his disciples\u2019 feet, however, Jesus is calling them not just to be good shepherds but to exercise authority at the heart of community in a totally new way, a way that is humanly incomprehensible and impossible. It is just as new and just as impossible as his invitation to forgive seventy-times-seven-times, to love enemies and to do good to those who hate us, to give our clothes to those who ask for them, to be constantly gentle and non-violent. It is just as amazing as when he identified himself with the poor and the outcast. \u2018In my kingdom, the greatest must become the smallest.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jesus asks his disciples to exercise authority like a child or a servant, where they are vulnerable and open to others. Can this authority \u2018from below,\u2019 where, out of love, we place ourselves lower than others, still be called authority? Is it not rather love and communion? It is like the authority a child has over a mother, or a friend over a friend, or a wife over husband or vice versa. They are there for one another, at each other\u2019s service. They listen to one another and are never too busy to be disturbed by the other. They live inside one another. Their joy is in giving to each other and being in communion one with another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Jean Vanier<\/p>\n

Jean Vanier is the founder of\u00a0L\u2019Arche internationale<\/a><\/strong>, an international network of communities for the mentally disabled. (From \u201cThe Scandal of Service: Jesus Washes Our Feet,\u201d 1998, Novalis, St. Paul University, Ottawa.)<\/em><\/p>\n

The above meditation appeared in the July issue of Magnificat<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0magazine to accompany today\u2019s readings.<\/p>\n

Below, Jean Vanier with Pope John Paul II. \u00a0Both men, I\u2019m convinced, will one day be declared saints. \u00a0For more, visit JeanVanier.org<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"