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and that would be washing the priest's feet with her tears.

That would be carrying things too far imo. It's degrading to women. Priests as humans aren't any better than women. I know the woman in the bible washed Jesus' feet with her tears. It reminds me of the account I read in an old catholic book about a novice or nun who had just seen a priest ascend some stairs. She went up the stairs on her knees and kissed every one of them.

At first you accept things like that because that's the way women have been conditioned for centuries. Then something snaps.

I find it hurtful that women are excluded, especially in light of the woman in Atlanta (who probably isn't catholic) and what she did for God.

But I also believe in rules if they aren't too harsh, so I'm willing to go along with it for the sake of peace. But I don't think it is right.

A lot of people are forced to participate in rituals (peer pressure, tradition) when, if they really think about what they are doing and why, they might individually choose to do otherwise.

And while I'm in talk mode, I'm having a hard time finding anything very holy about this week. It is all incredibly depressing. The pope is not well. The mess in Florida. Bad news everywhere. It will be all I can do to drag myself to church if I can manage to do it.

It's degrading to women.

But, it was okay for the Son of Man to get down on his knees and wash the feet of His disciples. That was not degrading.

I find it hurtful that women are excluded

You are not alone. These women share your view of more inclusiveness. Perhaps this link will be helpful.

WomenPriests

The idea of not washing woman's feet is both based on the rules but also the meaning of the ritual as it relates to the priesthood, which in the Catholic and Orthodox rites are reserved for men. If and when woman become priests they can be included in the Holy Thursday washing of the feet. However, the Holy Father said that that is impossible and Paul VI said that even if he ordained a woman she would not be a priest because the matter of the sacrament would not be present. In his letter to the Angican Bishop of Canterbury he said: "[The Church] holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."((November 30, 1975); AAS 68 (1976), 599) And John Paul II went further by saying in the apostolic letter ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS (1994): "In order that all doubt be removed . . . in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren, I declare that the Church has NO AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER [emphasis in original] to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitely held by all the Church's faithful."