I won’t be preaching tonight, but I thought I’d toss up here part of my homily from last year:

Do this in remembrance of me.

Jesus is saying: This is how I want to be remembered.

In the gospel, John doesn’t even mention the meal, or the institution of the Eucharist. But he finds something else for us to remember: Christ, the servant.

Deacons feel a special affection for this passage, because it is here that the diaconate, really, is born — in Christ’s extraordinary act of service, the washing of his disciples’ feet. Often, you will see emblems for the diaconate that include the image of a basin and a towel. It refers to this specific passage. And it is a reminder that we are called to serve – to wash one another’s feet, in humility and in love, just as Jesus did.

But it is not just the ordained who are called to this. It is all of Christ’s disciples. All who sit at His table and share in His body and blood.

All of us.

“You ought to wash one another’s feet,” Jesus says. “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

In other words: remember what I have done. And do this, too, in remembrance of me.

The rest of it is here.

I’m curious about others’ experience of the “mandatum,” or washing of the feet during the Holy Thursday mass. What have you seen done? I have heard of parishes where they wash hands; I’ve heard of places where everybody in some way gets their hands (or even feet) washed; and I heard recently of a parish in Washington state where the priest washes the feet of the first person, and then that person washes the next, and so on. (I kind of like that idea myself.) At my parish, one of the priests does it, on all of the RCIA candidates.

What have you seen?

UPDATE: The experience at my parish last night: the monsignor in residence gave the homily and performed the foot-washing; at the end of his homily, he mentioned that this would be an awkward and embarrassing moment for those who were about to have their feet washed, and he suggested that, if possible, those in the congregation might want to take off their shoes, as well, to show sympathy and empathy. He then stepped into the sacristy to remove his chasuble, and returned barefoot, and proceeded to wash the feet of the RCIA candidates (while the choir performed a soul-stirring hymn, “Jesus Took A Towel”). It just knocked me out. Deeply, profoundly moving.