No Holy Thursday Foot Washing

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Jesus “washed the feet” of his twelve closest friends at His moment of great distress
the politicization of it, the kissing of the feet; is very weird & troubling

frankly; i think it is demeaning to the catholic clergy
 
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Demeaning how?
It is an example of servant leadership, and exactly what Jesus called his priests too.
 
the Catholic clergy is not called upon to kiss any person’s smelly feet…
Jesus did it; that was enough of it already
 
brian_custer said:
frankly; i think it is demeaning to the catholic clergy
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Yes, exactly, the very point Jesus was making that evening, his action reinforcing what he had said earlier in Luke 18:14 "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” and a prelude to his even greater example the next day as described in Philippians 2:8 “being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

And meant for all Catholics, not just the clergy.
 
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Jesus washed the feet of the first eleven bishops of the christian church… most of whom were martyred
we commoners are not worthy of having our feet “washed”; much less “kissed” by clergy

the ritual has become a sham ; a politically correct “not very funny” joke
 
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brian_custer said:
Jesus washed the feet of the first twelve bishops of the christian church… most of whom were martyred

we commoners are not worthy of having our smelly, rotten feet “washed”, must less kissed

the ritual has become a sham ; a politically correct “not very funny” joke
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The apostles were not worthy, either. Peter himself was about to betray Jesus when this occurred.
 
pianistclare said:
I truly believe that the foot washing ritual rightly belongs at the Chrism Mass. A Bishop should wash the feet of his priests. Or any seminarians that are home during Holy Week.
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I tend to agree with that. The diocesan Chrism Mass would be a good place for this ritual, with the bishop washing the feet of twelve seminarians, transitional deacons, or recently ordained priests.
 
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We didn’t have it at our church for the first time. It was due to special circumstances. Our priest has been unwell, and then the main person who always organized it went on to be with the Lord just a few months ago.

I can’t say I really missed it. Our church would always ask for 12 volunteers to have their feet washed (I guess because of the 12 apostles). I wouldn’t have wanted to volunteer. When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet it was a private meaningful ceremony. There wasn’t an audience watching. I would feel uncomfortable having my feet washed in front of a bunch of people. But maybe that’s just me.
 
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At the churches I’ve spent time at, I’ve never seen a call for volunteers. Usually they would just get people who were already active in parish ministry, so it was just another case of seeing the same people who are always doing things in front of the congregation during Mass, doing more things.

In recent years it seems like there has been a push towards getting all minorities or even getting minors (like young to mid-teens). It definitely seems like a political message when the group selected for foot washing does not really mirror the congregation who is observing it. I’m also kind of uncomfortable with underage people being included in this.
 
pianistclare said:
Just seeing all those people walking around barefoot gave me the creeps. Not in church. I’m not usually terribly fussy, but that’s just awful. But, they never asked me my opinion.
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You’d never survive in some Oriental Orthodox parishes…

Everyone takes their shoes off at the door!
 
pianistclare said:
Do they all wear socks? 🤣
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I’ve seen both barefoot and with socks. The priests sometimes wear a light cloth slipper.

Although it is definitely cultural (Muslims and Hindus from the same regions also remove their shoes in places of worship) the explanation given hearkens to God’s command to Moses at the burning bush.

Here are some pictures to give you the heebie-jeebies.

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Women of a lower social status as a servant would have washed feet. The reverse, a man washing the feet of any woman would have violated the modesty of the woman. Our Lord would have never put a woman in such a position.
 
You know this how?
He made it a habit of challenging social convention of the time. The Women at the well is a very good example. No Jew, especially a man, would have engaged with a Samaratan woman in that fashion, at that time.
Why are you trying to put Jesus in a box?
Why is anyone here?
The whole point of his washing the apsotle’s feet was to shake up the convential thinking of the religious people of the time.
 
I’m sorry I don’t understand. Jesus challenged the convential wisdom of the day with many of his deeds.
What does history have to do with it?
Jesus came to call us to a new way of thinking, and I think that getting rid of this beautiful symbol of service to others, in a way where the master becomes a servant is a very relavant lesson for today.
 
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Provide Scriptural evidence that Jesus washed the feet of women.

A deep study of history, 1st Century Palestinian & Hebrew culture and the teaching of the Church might be of interest.
 
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