KOTTAYAM: Fully confirming to the spirit of what Jesus commanded on Maundy Thursday but marking a radical departure from convention, a group of women will wash the feet of other women. It will be held outside the church at Snehakoodu, a destitute home. The ceremony will be conducted on Wednesday by Indian Christian Women’s Movement (ICWM), comprising women from all church denominations.
The foot-washing ritual commemorates Christ’s washing the feet of his 12 disciples on the day before his crucifixion, an act of profound humility and one that subverted established hierarchies. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them”, the Bible says [John 13:14-17].
ICWM former secretary Shanti Mathai emphasized the inclusivity of the ceremony outside the church, allowing people of all genders and religions to participate. “The ritual is usually maledominated in the church with the priest washing the feet of a few men. By moving the ritual to a public space, ICWM aims to promote unity and break down societal barriers.
It then becomes a symbol of mutual respect, acceptance and equality,” she said. The organization had conducted similar ceremonies in various destitute homes here and Thiruvalla in 2018 and 2019, but the initiative was interrupted by the pandemic.
“We are reviving this after a gap,” ICWM former national convenor Kochurani Abraham said, adding that they chose Snehakoodu for the ceremony as it houses people from all religions. “The ritual is a revolutionary symbol — a master washing the feet of his students; a symbol of hierarchy being overthrown,” she said.
The foot-washing ritual commemorates Christ’s washing the feet of his 12 disciples on the day before his crucifixion, an act of profound humility and one that subverted established hierarchies. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them”, the Bible says [John 13:14-17].
ICWM former secretary Shanti Mathai emphasized the inclusivity of the ceremony outside the church, allowing people of all genders and religions to participate. “The ritual is usually maledominated in the church with the priest washing the feet of a few men. By moving the ritual to a public space, ICWM aims to promote unity and break down societal barriers.
It then becomes a symbol of mutual respect, acceptance and equality,” she said. The organization had conducted similar ceremonies in various destitute homes here and Thiruvalla in 2018 and 2019, but the initiative was interrupted by the pandemic.
“We are reviving this after a gap,” ICWM former national convenor Kochurani Abraham said, adding that they chose Snehakoodu for the ceremony as it houses people from all religions. “The ritual is a revolutionary symbol — a master washing the feet of his students; a symbol of hierarchy being overthrown,” she said.
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