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A Word on the Word: The look that saves

Fr. Raymund Benedict "RB" Hizon, SJ

<p>Just before the Iran conflict there was much excitement about Michelin stars and definite &quot;gold standards&quot; for high-end dining service. The goal of such “professional service” we were told, is defined by “anticipatory hospitality” where staff “own” the guest experience by fulfilling needs before they are even requested — waitstaff appear almost magically to refill a glass, clear a plate, or adjust a utensil without ever interrupting the flow of the guest&#x27;s conversation. The more unobtrusive the staff, the higher the &quot;experience.&quot;</p><p>At the most elite events, this logic is pushed to its cold, logical extreme. We saw this recently in viral news regarding a high-profile anniversary event in Metro Manila. Catering staff were reportedly used as human furniture — &quot;human trays&quot; meant to be stationary, silent, and decorative props. In that world, the highest compliment you can pay a servant is that you didn&#x27;t even notice they were there. The focus is entirely on the &quot;experience&quot; of the guest; the server is merely a function, a piece of architecture. In a caricature-worthy, high-profile world, we have perfected the art of looking past people to get to what we want.</p><div> </div><div><strong>When the Lord surprises</strong></div><p>But tonight, the Lord does something that will never happen in a high-end, fine dining restaurant. He interrupts the &quot;guest experience.&quot; St. John tells us that Jesus &quot;rose from supper.&quot; He broke the flow. He stepped out of the shadows and into the center of the room. He didn’t wait for a need to be silently met; He created a scene. By kneeling to wash feet, Jesus wasn&#x27;t just being humble; He was making the act of service impossible to ignore.  </p><p>Jesus was preacher, teacher and model. He took the most invisible role in the household and made it the most visible thing in the room. He turned the &quot;human tray&quot; into the Guest of Honor. He forced the disciples and everyone present to look at the one who serves—to look at the dirt, the sweat and hard work, and the humanity that we usually prefer to keep out of sight.</p><div> </div><div><strong>A common gesture</strong></div><p>This &quot;professional invisibility&quot; isn&#x27;t just a trend for fancy parties; it is sadly a habit of the heart that all of us, in a way, carry. I am reminded of a lesson from my days as a young novice. Our socius, Fr. Lucas, once gave us Jesuit novices, a stinging admonition. He noticed how even back then (circa 1993?) a growing habit among most people including even Jesuits to become &quot;professionally, intentionally and safely invisible&quot; to the poor at our own doorstep. </p><p>Notice nowadays — and it started back then — when a beggar taps on our car window for alms, we have this usual reflex: we tap back or knock on the glass, without looking — a silent, coded signal to the one asking to move along, never once breaking our gaze from the road or our conversation. We treat the human being partitioned by glass as a glitch in our &quot;experience,&quot; a distraction to be dismissed with a knuckle on a window.</p><p>Fr. Lucas’s challenge back then was simple but haunting — even so and more so today: &quot;At least look them in the eye.&quot; Even if you have nothing to give, even if you must say no, please acknowledge the human being. Break the &quot;shadow presence.&quot; Because when you tap or knock on that glass without looking, you aren&#x27;t just refusing change; you are ignoring and erasing a person. You are saying, &quot;Your presence is an interruption or invasion into my privacy and into my life.&quot;</p><div> </div><div><strong>The Mandatum Novum: A new way of seeing</strong></div><p>Tonight, we celebrate the Mandatum Novum — the New Commandment. Love one another as I have loved you, he says. And then washes feet. We often think &quot;Maundy&quot; is a soft, pious word. It isn&#x27;t. It is a summons to stop &quot;tapping or knocking on the glass&quot; — in other words, to start washing feet.</p><p>In his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te, Pope Leo XIV suggests that the greatest poverty of our modern world is the &quot;poverty of being unseen.&quot; He warns us that an economy that treats workers as &quot;human trays&quot; or &quot;invisible shadows&quot; is an economy that eventually justifies war.</p><p>As the Holy Father said just days ago on Palm Sunday, &quot;The Lord does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, for He rejects the hands that refuse to recognize a brother.&quot; This &quot;preferential choice for the person&quot; is not a political slogan; it is the only road to peace. Violence begins when we stop seeing faces and start seeing functions. When we turn a person into an object for our convenience, we have already begun the work of the oppressor.</p><div> </div><div><strong>The God who waits</strong></div><p>Tonight, the Eucharist reminds us that our God refuses to stay in the shadows. He doesn&#x27;t meet our needs &quot;magically&quot; or from a distance. He comes to us as Bread — tangible, visible, and broken. He is the God who &quot;waits&quot; on us, not as a silent servant, but as a lover who demands to be seen, demands to be eaten and shared!</p><p>When our Liturgy ends tonight at the beginning of the Easter Triduum, a number of us will go on Visita Iglesia. We will leave the bright lights of our sanctuaries and step out into the humid Manila night. We will go from church to church, (traditionally at least seven) visiting the Blessed Sacrament in repose.</p><p>We often think of this vigil as keeping watch or &quot;watching&quot; Jesus. But perhaps tonight, let the roles be reversed. Amidst the movement of the crowds and the silence of the Altar of Repose, allow the Lord to be the one looking at us. He is the one outside the glass, waiting for us to stop &quot;tapping back&quot; and finally look Him in the eye.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Stay with Him tonight</strong></div><p>Tonight, our Teacher and Master is not sitting at the head of the table. He is on the floor, looking up at us. Tomorrow, on Good Friday, that same face will be bruised and bloodied for our sake. The Lord did not just wash feet to give an example of kindness and goodness. He did it to show us that in God’s house, there are no invisible people. There is no &quot;service staff.&quot; There are only children of God.</p><p>As we stay with the Lord tonight, let us ask for the grace to finally see, gaze and look into the very faces we have spent our lives ignoring.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Reflection questions:</strong></div><p><strong>1. Where do I settle for &quot;unobtrusive service&quot;? </strong>In my home, my workplace, or my parish, have I allowed certain people to become &quot;human furniture&quot; — valuing them only for the functions they perform rather than who they are and the faces they carry?</p><p><strong>2. What &quot;glass&quot; am I currently tapping on? </strong>Beyond the car window, what are the present-day partitions — screens, social status, or busy schedules — that I use to safely signal others to &quot;move along&quot; without ever having to acknowledge their humanity?</p><p><strong>3. Am I ready to be the one &quot;watched&quot;? </strong>As I sit before the Altar of Repose or walk the streets of the city tonight, can I move past the role of a detached observer and allow the Lord to truly look me in the eye, exposing the places in my life where I have preferred to stay invisible?</p>

<p>On Maundy Thursday, when the Gospel recalls Christ kneeling to wash His disciples’ feet, this reflection confronts a quieter but pervasive habit of modern life: the ease with which we render others invisible. </p>

On Maundy Thursday, when the Gospel recalls Christ kneeling to wash His disciples’ feet, this reflection confronts a quieter but pervasive habit of modern life: the ease with which we render others invisible.

A Word on the Word: The look that saves

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A Word on the Word: The look that saves

Fr. Raymund Benedict "RB" Hizon,

SJ

Published April 02, 2026 07:00 AM PHT

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Updated April 02, 2026 07:27 AM PHT

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