By Frank Wessling
Who washes the feet of strangers these days? It’s probably a rare occurrence outside some hospitals and nursing homes. But Catholics do it on Holy Thursday every year. We do it as a ritual action, though. It’s symbolic, not personal, and that’s why a few folks threw a fit after they saw what Pope Francis did on Holy Thursday.
Among those whose feet the pope washed during his feast day Mass was a young woman — a woman! How could he do this when the foot-washing is supposed to represent Jesus’ action in the Gospel according to John when he washed the feet of Peter and the other Apostles at the Last Supper?
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