Reviewing experiences of different members of the Community of Saint Paul this past Holy Week, we reproduce here this testimony that Pablo Cirujeda sends from Mexico City.
In the context of the Holy Week celebrations that we organize in the Rectoría del Rosario, in Mexico City, with the support of three other parishes of the deanery, we had the idea of organizing a different footwashing this past Holy Thursday.
For a year we have been cooking and delivering food to the unemployed and homeless population that congregates around the bus terminal and Metro Observatorio stop, right on the parish boundary. This activity takes place every Tuesday and Thursday, and currently we have already been able to share more than 15,000 hot meals.
We planned to carry out a foot washing for Holy Thursday after the delivery of food to all the people who would like to receive this risky and humble gesture of Jesus. After a year walking with this marginal population, there are countless stories and encounters that our pastoral team has treasured with them: stories of violence, marginalization, hope, addictions, struggle, migration...
However, on a daily basis we witness the scarcity in which these people find themselves, and that on many occasions they have asked us for support with clothes, shoes or medicines. How to wash their feet and see that those same feet return to some torn and worn shoes? So, during the Lenten season we collected new or used shoes in good condition among many volunteers and donors, and also socks to complete each pair.
Then, on Holy Thursday, after the delivery of the usual 250 meals at noon, we invited those who had received the meal to have their feet washed by one of the four priests present, or by some volunteers from this community project. One by one they went through this simple ritual, after which we were able to give them a new pair of shoes and new socks.
Thanks to the support of a large group of volunteers from the four parishes that we collaborate with in this project, including a youth choir, the ceremony was carried out with order and great emotion on the part of the people who were presented with their new shoes.
This Holy Thursday, despite the needs generated by the pandemic, we were able to share a little solidarity with some of those most affected by the lack of employment and a decent home.
