The Church Of The Holy Rood -- Wool, Dorset, U.K.
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The Church Of The Holy Rood -- Wool, Dorset, U.K.
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Washing Feet and Sleeping RoughOn the 1st April, in the Church of the Holy Rood, as in countless other churches and cathedrals, we mark Maundy Thursday with a service in which we re-enact Jesus’ washing of his disciples feet before they ate their last supper together before his death. On that day the Queen will distribute the Royal Maundy money to pensioners at Derby Cathedral. For many centuries, this ritual required the monarch to wash the feet of the poor as well as distribute alms. For some these rituals are so familiar that we are no longer moved by them. For others they are obscure acts that belong to a culture and an age that no longer seems relevant. It is probably easier to grasp what was going on when Alan, the vicar in Radio 4’s long-running soap, The Archers, decided to sleep out in a tent throughout Lent in aid of refugees. By day he conducts business as usual from the Vicarage, but sleeps each night in his tent, moving through various parts of his parish. It’s typical of many symbolic acts in aid of a good cause we hear of all the time. But we do get the point of such an exercise. It raises awareness and raises money for a particular group in need. At the same time participants experience something of what those they seek to help experience. The difference is that as Christ knelt to wash the disciples’ feet, and as he later died on the cross, his commitment was total not partial. He chose to become one who had no power of his own but submitted to the will of others, in order to give hope to the powerless and to those who are unable to save themselves. Appropriately this year Maundy Thursday falls on April Fool’s Day, for surely no one in their right mind willingly gives up their power and advantages, and puts themselves at the beck and call of others. That is what Christ does as he washes feet and as he dies upon the cross. In these acts he calls us to recognize our powerlessness and need of help even as we serve others who are powerless and in need. Your friend and parish priest
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