Mayor Celebrates Easter Weekend Washing Homeless Feet
Humility is a sign of good leadership.
Here's how Mayor Villaraigosa honored Good Friday:
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa washes the feet of Nailah Robinson, 11, whose family is currently homeless, at the Union Rescue Mission in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles on Good Friday, April 14, 2006. The modern foot-washing ceremony is symbolic of the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples shortly before he was crucified. Today the homeless received new shoes after the foot-washing. (Photo: AP / Damian Dovarganes)
posted by LA's Homeless Blog at
8:25 AM
3 Comments:
Did Jesus wear rubber gloves, too?
I wonder if Jesus brought a cameraman with him too.
The use of gloves is not necessarily an expression of distaste for touching the feet of homeless people.
Our church also hosted a foot washing, as part of a regular open picnic ministry. The use of gloves was recommended to prevent cross-infection of our guests. If one person has a skin infection on their feet, it could be passed to all of the guests by the person washing them.
We used vinyl gloves, which were discarded after each washing. We also brought LOTS of towels for drying feet, and disinfected wash basins with bleach between washings.
After washing, people were given a choice of different moisturizers for their feet, a pair of new socks, and an opportunity for prayer, if they wanted it. A surprising number of our guests were amenable to being prayed for after the foot washing.
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