By Matters India Reporter
Kochi, April 7, 2023: A cine actor in the southern Indian state of Kerala has observed Maundy Thursday differently: he washed the feet of his wife and five children at home.
A video posted April 7 on YouTube shows Sijoy Varghese kneeling before his wife and children seated on chairs. He washes their feet with water, wipes them with a towel and kisses them while a hymn is played in the backdrop.
The actor starts with his wife and goes to each child, from the eldest to the youngest. At last he washes the feet of the fifth child seated on his wife’s lap.
Varghese’s gesture symbolizes Christ washing the feet of his 12 disciples at the Last Supper. The Church commemorates it on Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday that fell on April 6 this year.
Churches across the world conduct the feet washing ritual during Maundy Thursday Mass.
Pope Francis on April 6 washed the feet of 12 young men and women, inmates at a juvenile prison in Rome, during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
The Pope presided over the Mass for more than 80 inmates, family, staff, and guards in the chapel of the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Rome’s outskirts
In an off-the-cuff homily, Pope reflected on the meaning of Christ’s choice to wash the feet of his disciples. “Washing the feet was a habit at that time,” he said. “But who washed the feet? The slaves.”
He explained that Jesus performed this gesture to help his disciples better understand what would happen the next day at his crucifixion.
The lesson we should take from this is to help one another, the Pope said. “Jesus, today, with this celebration, wants to teach us this: nobility of heart.”
Varghese has been involved in advertising and cinema for 20 years. He acts mostly in Malayalam films. He has acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies.
A devout Catholic and pro-life promoter, Varghese was born on March 6, 1971, at Edappally, a suburb of Kochi, Kerala.
He studied at the Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi, before starting his career. He married Tessy Raphel in 1999. The couple’s children are Varkey, Maria, Anna, Anthony and Zarah.
In an earlier interview to Cine Serial Life, Varghese said he married the first woman he had gone with a proposal and both had agreed to have at least five children. His eldest son was 21 when the youngest daughter was born during the pandemic lockdown. The actor also said his wife and he respected his son’s request to stop having more children.