On Holy Thursday we focused on
the very relevant idea of distancing.
For today’s Good Friday reflections,
we will pay attention
to something just as relevant
and just as frequently heard these days.
Watch this short introductory clip.
For our own good,
many of us have turned into “hand nazis”–
constantly conscious of–
and almost clinically obsessed with–
keeping our hands clean.
We’ve learned to discipline ourselves
to wash our hands more frequently
and more diligently
for at least the prescribed twenty seconds.
And for good reason!
Again and again medical doctors have stressed
the importance of personal hygiene
to prevent infection for ourselves
and for those around us.
Did I happen to mention
that there was a lot of washing going
on that first Holy Week?
All that washing has a lot to teach us
if we learn to read those stories of Lent
even more attentively than usual
and if we try to pray between their lines.