I was just wondering if the issue had ever come up in your studies? If there is a reason that my experience of the foot washing portion of the last supper as being an integral part of the whole message is pointedly unorthodox, I am curious to know. The idea had never been introduced to me by any church. I don't know where I would look such a thing up. As far as the catholic church and questioning it's spiritual authority is concerned, this seems to contradict your faith in cannon to preserve integrity. I don't get my news from the news paper. I get my news through reflected light and sound.
Thank you. I found it interesting and informative. So what your saying is that is is specifically consigned to ritual.
I cannot speak to seeming. I noticed in the information you provided that the practice is specifically relegated to a certain time and order of things. I personally have taken ritualized communion in several churches and different denominations and that ceremony provided a totally different order of sentiment for me than a subsequent introduction to the reality that we can commune personally and uninterruptedly with our loving creator. I don't think ritual is negative but find it a poor substitute to real and present relationship.
The ritual is a signifier of what the real and present relationship should be of priests and bishops to the people they tend as a flock.
But who has their feet washed. In most parishes, priests will wash the feet of 12 members of their congregation (ranging from 12 men representing the disciples or a "cross section" of the community) whereas the Pope often washes the feet of 12 bishops. It isn't just "for priests and bishops" but for the whole Church. Remember I said that it is a signifier of a relationship.