Bottom line: Washing someone’s feet bring physical relief – and points to release from a deeper burden.
This Holy Week I have been thinking about my mom and dad. If they were still alive, they would be celebrating their ninetieth birthdays. (They were born two days apart, March 14 & 16, 1918.) One of my favorite memories of my mother was when my college-age niece asked her, “Grandma, can I wash your feet?”* Surprised my mom said, yes, and Tonya brought a bowl of warm water and a towel. It was beautiful to see the expression on my mom’s face. It was as if all her cares and anxieties left her. As Tonya dried her feet, she seemed totally relaxed.
In this evening’s Gospel, Jesus washes his friends’ feet. The washing brought physical relief, but something more. Jesus tells his disciples, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed.” The full bath refers to baptism. The foot washing refers to a post-baptismal cleansing that brings release and liberation. For us as Catholics, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a post-baptism cleansing. But that cleansing can happen in other ways – for example, at the Easter Vigil when we renew our baptismal vows.**
After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he said that he had given an example for us to follow. Tonight I would like to make a suggestion. You know, some congregations have all the members involved in washing each others’ feet. I don’t believe that is the correct approach, but I would like to ask you to do something this evening. As Father Ramon and I, together with Deacons Ted & Abel, wash the feet to twelve men – to represent the twelve apostles – I would like you to think of someone whose feet you could wash.
Maybe tonight you could say to your wife, “Dear one, may I wash your feet?” And after you have washed each foot, bend down and kiss it, as we will do with those who represent the apostles. If you wash your spouse’s feet, you will experience a beautiful intimacy. And would it not be something lovely if a brother were to wash the feet of one of his siblings? Or, as my niece did, if a grandchild washed the feet of their grandparent?
It is significant that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet before celebrating the Eucharist with them. It prepared them to participate in that first Mass. It gives us an example how we prepare to take part in these mysteries. We need the post-baptismal cleansing of a good confession or at least a good act of contrition, such as we have in the penitential rite. And we can wash one another’s feet – to help free the other person from his burden and anxieties. As Jesus tells us, “I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”