Hand-wringing about Foot-washing

"I have given you an example: as I have done, so you must do."

One month ago yesterday, Pope Francis signed a document (released today) changing the liturgical rubrics for Holy Thursday's Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. Actually, all he did was eliminate the restriction of the rite of foot-washing to men (Latin: viri). The Pope's goal is that the rite express the breadth of Christ's mercy, which led him to give himself for everyone.

As Pope, Francis effectively changed the rubrics on his first Holy Thursday; now he just made it official.  I am not a big fan of women getting their feet washed (and certainly wanted to have nothing to do with it while the rubrical restrictions were in place), but my resistance is mainly from a sense of distaste at all it involves in terms of hosiery (not that ordinary women wear hose anymore).
This is a departure from the 1955 rite (which restored an extinct practice), and from the earlier customs. It is safe to say that the medieval and earlier foot-washings involved men alone simply out of reasons of decorum. Other ceremonial (but non-liturgical) foot-washings with women were carried out by women. Either way, participants were often chosen from the poor, offering exactly the sign that the Pope hopes the revised rite will help manifest: the "limitless charity" of the one who loved us and gave himself up for us. 

We may have gotten used to the visual of "twelve men/boys" representing the Apostles, but the washing of the feet was less about the priestly character of the Apostles than it was a graphic exhortation to service on the part of those who represent Christ--just as it was on that Holy Thursday night.

Winter Storm Jonas and the New Nineveh

There aren't forty days until the meteorologists' prophecies are expected to come to pass (no meteorologist would dare make such a long-term prediction!). Instead, we have about three days until Winter Storm Jonas descends upon the Nineveh of Washington DC. Even now, thousands of cheerful prophets (so unlike the original Jonas--or Jonah as he is more commonly thought of) are packing and planning for Friday's March for Life which will take place regardless of the weather (though organizers are warning participants about the expected storm).

Open wide! Jonas takes a dive in this 16th century ms.

The DC area is not too good handling ordinary snowfall, and Jonas is making the meteorologists so giddy it is worth being concerned for the young people (they are mostly young people) who participate in the March and in the surrounding events.

Friday is also a day of Prayer and Penance in reparation for sins against human life. The US bishops have asked us to pray, fast and give alms (or perform other works of mercy) on this anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that opened the way to legalized abortion. When the people of old Nineveh heard Jonah's message, they repented, "and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth" (Jon 3:5-10). Given that we are all one body, one human family, there is no way to determine here on earth where my own sins contributed to the weakness of the whole in a way that fostered the conditions we are trying to make up for. An act of selfishness on my part contributes to a more selfish climate for everyone. A curt dismissal contributes to a lowering of respect for those who "don't measure up". Exploitation of another person's weakness confirms society's tendency to manipulate those whom it can and eliminate those it cannot. Acts of penance are not only a way of making up in some way for sins "other people" committed; it is an acknowledgement that "all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

If you go to Mass on Friday, you will see the priest wearing the violet vestments representing repentance. You may not be out in the cold this Friday, but how will you raise (and heed) the voice of Jonas in the Nineveh of the 21st century?

Southerners need to know that "boots" does not mean
"rain boots" or galoshes or even fashionably warm
Uggs, but actual snow boots: waterproof, lined,
not really cute snow boots. (Thanks to the Students
for Life for the great infographic!)

Turning God into an Idol

It happens in both of today's Mass readings, and it can happen today. Turning the Living God (or as the first reading from 1 Samuel 4 put it, "the Lord of Hosts who is enthroned upon the cherubim") into an idol (first reading) or a golden goose (Gospel).

In the first reading, the Israelite army is having a bad day. Defeated by the Philistines, they decide to force God's hand: carrying the Ark of the Covenant (understood to be God's throne--with God still seated on it!) onto the battlefield. They attempt to turn God into their servant, to wield his power like a tool in their own hands. (It didn't work out the way they intended.)

Rembrandt: Christ heals the leper. http://www.rijksmuseum.nl

Fortunately, the flip side (a right relationship with the Living God) is portrayed for us in the Gospel. "If you will it, you can make me clean," said the leper on his knees before Christ. And, surprisingly enough, God (in the form of a servant) does bend to the will of his suppliant: "Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand..." The idol-making instinct is not totally overcome, however: as word spread about the miraculous cure of the leper, people came crowding in on Jesus to the point that he was banished (leper-like) far from the populated areas, though "people kept coming to him from everywhere."

St James wrote (scornfully) about people who complain that God does not hear their prayer, when the problem is they are praying "amiss" (Jas 4:2-3). Today's Morning Prayer today seemed to have the answer, starting with the first Psalm (57): "Have mercy on me, God...in you my soul has taken refuge."

Gearing Up for Lent

I know, I know. It was Christmastide, literally, just yesterday. And yet here we are on the first day of the first week in Ordinary Time, with Lent less than a month away.

Is there something providential about this? In the Jubilee Year of Mercy, I would say so. The liturgy is giving us an opportunity to renew our Advent hopes and our New Year's resolutions, and to consecrate the best of them once again with all the spiritual vigor of the Lenten forty days.

Or maybe the Lord is indicating something completely unexpected: a grace he wants to work in you that you may never have thought to ask for, much less work towards. Here in community, that's what these weeks of Christmas have been for me: abundant and unexpected opportunities for stretching the old comfort zone to include the things I tend to back away from. In these weeks leading up to Lent I have a chance not for a flurry of resolutions, but for some reflection and discernment (along with some King Cake).

What about you? Has Christmas been edging you, all unawares, closer to the Lenten season?

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You can find some special resources for this Jubilee Year of Mercy and for the Lenten season on my community's website; please share the link on social media!