Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of inmates at Casal del Marmo, a prison for young women and children, in Rome on Easter Thursday. In 2013, the Pope performed the foot-washing service and offered the Lord’s Supper in this prison.
Joey Kariveli, Vatican City
Papa said that it is very good to help each other and to extend a helping hand and those humane and universal actions are born from a noble heart.
In Rome, about 12 kilometers from the Vatican, in Casal del Marmo (Casal del Marmo), a prison for young women and children, Pope Francis exhorted in a short evangelical sermon on the occasion of the Eucharistic Sacrifice that included the washing of feet on Easter Thursday, explaining the meaning of foot washing.
The Pope said that the superiority of the heart is what Jesus is teaching us today through the service of washing the feet on Easter Thursday. The Pope explained that Jesus, who is not afraid of our weaknesses, desires to take us by the hand and lead us so that our life does not feel too hard for us.
The Pope stated that the washing of the feet, which he also performs, is not a ritual, but an act of declaring how we should be to one another. The Pope also recalled the fact that today in society there are many people who exploit others, who are pushed into a corner, who cannot get out, unemployed, half-paid workers, who do not have money to pay for medicine, broken families and injustices.
12 adults, 5 boys, 1 young woman and 1 girl were among the 12 people who were washed by Papa during the Thiruvathazha Thirukarma held in the prison. 6 of them were Italians. The others were two Sinti boys, a Croatian boy, a Muslim boy from Senegal, a Romanian boy and a Russian boy.
In 2013, Pope Francis performed the washing of the feet on Easter Thursday in this prison of Casa del Marmo.
The full text of the Pope’s message:
The work of Jesus on the day before his crucifixion draws our attention. In those days, foot washing was a custom, as the roads were dusty, and people coming from outside would wash their feet before entering a house for feasting and assembly. But who washed the feet? Slaves, because it was slave labor. We can imagine how surprised the disciples were when they saw Jesus begin to do the work of a slave. But he does it to make them understand that he will die the next day like a slave to pay our all. If we pay attention to these things about Jesus, life would be much more beautiful, because instead of cheating and exploiting each other as the scumbags teach us, we would rush to help each other. Helping each other and extending a helping hand are very beautiful: they are human and universal deeds, but they are born from a noble heart. This is what Jesus intends to teach us today with this observance: excellence of heart. Each of us can say: “But if the Pope knew what is in me…”. But Jesus knows them, loves us just as we are, and washes all of our feet. Jesus is never afraid of our weaknesses, He is never afraid because He has already paid the price, His only desire is to help us, He wants to take us by the hand so that life is not so hard for us. I will do the same service of washing the feet, but it is not a ritual, no. We think of it as an act that declares how we want to be with each other. How many people we see in society who take advantage of others, how many people are pushed into corners and cannot come out. So many injustices, so many unemployed people, so many people working and getting half wages, so many people who don’t have money to buy medicine, so many families destroyed, so many bad things… nothing. None of us can say: “You know, I’m not like that, thank God” – “If I’m not like that, it’s by God’s grace!”; Each of us can slip up. The awareness that each of us may slip, it is this assurance that elevates us – note the word: “dignity” – the state in which we are sinners. Jesus wants us to have this awareness, that’s why he washed our feet and wanted to say: “I came to save you, to minister to you”. I will do the same now as a reminder of what Jesus taught us: help one another. Thus life becomes more beautiful and we can progress. Although I have difficulty walking, I think I can perform the foot washing service. During the washing of feet you think: “Jesus washed my feet, Jesus saved me, I have this problem now”. But it shall pass, the Lord is always by your side and will never leave you, never. Think about it.