Washing Feet: An Example of Service or Something More?

Jesus Washing Peter's Feet by Ford Madox Brown 1852-6 So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. - John 13:2-5 Today, in 2024 A.D., we don't give much thought to these few sentences. The impact of the activity of Jesus is lost on us because a) We wear shoes everywhere. Many of us even have "inside shoes" and "outside shoes". b) The Church's liturgy (as popularly practiced) often misses or lessens the importance of this event (pro tip: it's not simply Jesus giving and example of serving others). Contrary to what we see in the movies, the roads in the time of Jesus weren't all covered in perfectly placed cobblestones or silky, fine dust. If r

Candlemas Day

Although now overshadowed on the revised liturgical calendar, Feburary 2 bore a weather folklore long before the shadowy groundhog. Farmers found the day a good time to make weather predictions, applying the theory that the rest of the winter would be the opposite of that on Candlemas. There is an old English song about this:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go, Winter, and come not again.

This means if the sun casts a shadow on Candlemas, you can expect more winter, but if there is no shadow, the end of winter is close at hand. If that sounds like the old groundhog story, it's because this is where that story comes from, except that the one about the groundhog originated only about a hundred years ago.

Taken from The Catholic Source Book

Comments

Sarah Reinhard said…
I like this far better than the groundhog version. I'll have to remember it for next year. :)