Holy Thursday and a Family Foot Washing

This evening was a busy one for our family, and although I am beginning to feel like I might fall asleep right here at the keyboard, I wanted to take a chance to write before that happened.

This evening (after stopping by a nursing home facility to see two of our grandmothers [great-grandmothers to our kids]), we went to our parish's "simple supper."

This supper isn't really all that simple, except that I suppose it is. It is simple in that nobody brings elaborate food, but there is always a lot of food to be had. People are assigned to bring either a salad (which can be any type of salad -- pasta salad, green salad, fruit salad, etc.) or a type of bread. Then, the church provides a few types of soup. It is so tasty!!!

We had a great time, and sat with a couple of other families that we know from the parish, but also spent a good deal of time chatting with other people as well. I commented to Eric that it was funny that we mostly only knew people who were in or involved with RCIA when we went to the supper last year, and this year we were talking to so many different people.

I think that really added to the evening -- to have that fellowship during our supper, and to remind us of the fellowship of the Last Supper.

After dinner, everyone headed over for Mass (there was really a gap of time, so even those who were eating at the very end of the supper still had plenty of time to make sure they had stopped eating an appropriate amount of time before Communion).

The Mass was enjoyable, and we even were able to sit with some new friends, though I think it made Jack extra squirmy.

My plan was then to go home and do our own foot washing for our family, as the only people to have their feet washed during the Mass at our parish are 12 people who are in the RCIA or RCIC. My original plan was for Eric and I to wash the feet of the children, and then to have them wash our feet. As I sat in the van waiting for Eric to run into the grocery store for cold medicine though, the plans changed in my mind.

When we got home, I got warm water in a pitcher and brought out a large bowl. I set Molly up in the chair to go first, and then we (the whole family) talked about the significance of the foot washing.

The boys were expecting that I was going to wash Molly's feet, but then I told them that they would each do one of her feet. And, so that was how we did the kids' feet. Each child had one of their feet washed by one sibilng, and then the other foot washed by their other sibling. I decided that this was more appropriate, I thought, for the purpose of the foot washing.

Likewise, when Eric went (before me), instead of having the kids wash his feet, I had all three kids wash one of his feet, and then I washed his other foot. The family did mine in the same fashion.

This did all mean that we were up past the kids' bedtime, but it was defintely worth it. I suspect (hope) that this will be a new tradition in our family!