Pope: "When the Lord washes our feet, he washes everything, he purifies us, he makes us feel again his love"
Rome (AsiaNews) – "When the Lord washes our feet, he washes everything, he purifies us, he makes us feel again his love," said Pope Francis as he spoke to some 300 inmates in Rome’s Rebibbia prison, during the ‘in Coena Domini’ Mass.
“I too need to be washed by the Lord,” the pontiff said; thus, “pray for this during the Mass, that the Lord may wash away my dirt, that I may become more of a slave than you, more of a slave in the service of the people, as Jesus was.”
Like in 2013, when he visited a juvenile detention centre, Francis chose jailed inmates for the Mass that included the rite of the washing of the feet. He performed the rite on 12 men (pictured) and 12 women. Two of the women were from Nigeria, one from Congo, two from Italy, and one from Ecuador, and one woman holding a child in her arms. One of the men was from Brazil, one from Nigeria and four were from Italy.
Speaking to the 150 female prisoners (including 15 mothers with children) and 150 male prisoners inside ‘Our Father Church’, the pope explained during his homily, unscripted, the meaning of the "washing" of the feet, by way of a commentary of the chosen Gospel passage.
The latter, he noted, includes "a central sentence, about what Jesus did for all of us, for he loved his people who were in the world, and he loved them until the end.”
“Jesus loves us, boundlessly, always, until the end. Jesus' love for us has no limits; it is ever growing. He never tires of loving. He loves all of us to the extent that he was willing to give his life for us. Yes, give his life for, for all of us, for each of us, and each of us can say that he gave his life for us. He gave his life for you, and you, for so and so.”
"Jesus’ love never lets us down because he never tires to love; he never tires to forgive and embrace us. This is the first thing." However, “the disciples could not figure out the purpose of washing the feet. This was a customary practice. When people got home, they would wash their feet to get rid of the dust. There were not cobblestones at that time.”
“Upon arrival, people washed their feet. Actually, slaves did it, not the man of the house. It was slave work. Like a slave, Jesus washes our feet, the disciples' feet. Indeed, he told Peter: What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later. Jesus is so much love that he became a slave to serve us, heal us, [and] cleanse us.”
“Today, in this Mass, the Church wants the priest to wash the feet of twelve people, in memory of the twelve apostles. But in our hearts, we must be certain, we must be sure, that the Lord, when he washes our feet, washes us completely, purifies us, and make us feel again his love.”
“In the Bible, there is a beautiful sentence in the Prophet Isaiah. Can a mother forget her infant? Even should she forget her infant, I will never forget you. This is God's love to me.”
“Hence, today I shall wash the feet of twelve of you. But all of you, everyone one who lives here are like those brothers and sisters. You represent them. Yet I too need to be washed by the Lord; to achieve this, pray during this Mass that the Lord may wash away my dirt, that I may become more of a slave than you, more of a slave in the service of the people, as Jesus was."
Earlier, when he arrived, Francis thanked the 300 or so prisoners for their warm welcome and greetings. The prison itself is the same facility where, on 27 December 1983, John Paul II met Ali Agca, the man who had tried to kill him, and where Benedict XVI, on 18 December 2011, answered questions from inmates.
On this occasion, the atmosphere was made that more festive by the presence of a child who, at the end of the Mass, came to stand next to the pontiff, and by the emotional reaction of many of those present, who, when they greeted the Holy Father, tried to touch him, hug him and kiss him.
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