Reflection:

Just as the Church belongs to sinners and saints, it belongs to men and women as well. Jesus’ band of followers included both men and women; and going by Luke’s accounts, some of those women had notorious past—not the kind that people would expect a “holy man“to associate with. But Jesus was a holy man with a difference—he was one who helped everyone rediscover God’s image hidden within. For him, both men and women were children of God, worth embracing and redeeming.

When Pope Francis widened the scope of the footwashing ritual of Holy Thursday, many people swallowed hard (and some could hardly swallow) the image of him washing the feet of women. Several churches around the world still refused to include women among those whose feet were washed. It is a pity that several of us would still cling to our neuroses and serve human traditions, but turn a blind eye to the invitation of the Gospel!