MORE ON HOLY THURSDAY'S FOOT WASHING, CROSSING PERSONAL BOUNDARIES AND 1970'S FAMILIARITY LEADING TO THE BIGGEST SCANDAL THE CHURCH HAS EXPERIENCED IN MODERN TIMES

This morning I posted a comment about Holy Thursday's foot washing where everyone washed each other's feet. This is what JJ had to write:

 Fr. McDonald, Our pastor invited everyone to wash each other's feet. I tried to just sit through it all but our young (and very well-meaning) parish council president insisted that I allow him to wash my feet and my wife's feet. I went along . . (at least we got to sing the Latin "Tantum Ergo" at the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament).
 

This was my comment:

Joseph, Given my Italian sense of "formality" with strangers gotten from my mother, if I were still a lay person and knew that everyone would be washing everyone's feet, I would not go to that particular Holy Thursday Mass. To experience what you did would have made me extremely uncomfortable and angry. I might have departed as it began.

 It is one thing for Jesus who is God washing the feet of the 12 of the closest people to him who actually have dirty feet and it is a part of that culture. It is quite another thing for a contrived situation such as a liturgy to inflict this on the unsuspecting, some of whom might appreciate it and others who would not but might be embarrassed or stunned into silence.

 The stylized version which is a rubric of this optional element of the Mass  is meant to be a liturgical gesture with consenting participants chosen ahead of time, whether all male or female or a combination (and having women's feet washed who were asked ahead of time and gave their consent would be of absolutely no offense to me or all men for that matter) is a purely symbolic act that needs explanation in terms of its cultural context and the relevance of the symbol today. It is about serving people who have a need, such as visiting the sick, caring for the dying, helping the poor and getting oneself dirty in the process.But it also means being of service as a parent, relative, friend, doctor, nurse, bed pan attendant and the like...

My further thoughts and elaboration: 

I remember the late 1960's and 70's very well when the Sign of Peace became a time of silliness and everyone kissing everyone, hugging everyone and advances being made to people who did not like for their personal space to be invaded. We are talking about people formed in the formality of the 1950's being manipulated and ridiculed for wanting to maintain that aspect of their upbringing only to have this intrusion into their personal space violated at Mass.  The same can be said of holding hands at Mass where unwilling participants had to hold the hand of someone they do not know and who may have perverted intentions.

The culture of the 1970's as a whole did not value the personal space of others and often there were intrusions into that space especially by people who had power over other people, this is especially true of hugs and kisses from perfect strangers quite common in this period and especially at church.

And then we discover in the 2000's John Jay School of Criminology that the greatest number of cases of sexual abuse and invasion of the personal space of young people and adults, sins and crimes, in the Church took place during this period of time in the Church in the mid 1970's.

Now that 1970's types and wanna be's are trying to recover that period of time in the Church today and emboldened to do so I would tell them flatly: Don't intrude on people's personal space in the formality of the Catholic Mass!