The Word should be shared by members of the community at suitable times. In this way the Word becomes the foundation on which the confrere and community build the mission entrusted to them. Rites and gestures. The celebration is meant to recall the mystery. Where the Word cannot do this, the gesture or action which belongs to the sphere of silence comes in.
Signs lead to the sacred, after the manner of pedagogy and initiation.
The action gives eloquence to the symbol, as the act of washing the feet points to the purifying property of water. Evidently the sensitivities of different cultures can be expressed through different actions, attitudes and languages. But we must never undervalue the importance of the actions which the liturgy prescribes as an overall expression of the mystery. The rite forms part of everyone s life, raising it to a higher level and preserving stability in the face of fleeting events. It creates a linkage with the past and opens up new interpretations.