During an unprecedented Mass of the Lord’s Supper this evening in Westminster Cathedral, where the Washing of Feet was omitted and the custom of keeping Vigil took place in an empty church, Cardinal Vincent Nichols urged Catholics to emulate Jesus’ act of servanthood by tending to others during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Cardinal opened the Easter Triduum by reminding Catholics that, even in these days “of great peril and hardship”, they and the whole world are brought daily before God in the Masses celebrated by priests in private.
While the Washing of the Feet was cancelled this year because of the pandemic, Jesus’ act of sacrificial servanthood was recalled every day during the pandemic in “extraordinary” acts of generous service.
He was speaking as Catholic chaplains across the country prepared to begin work in the newly constructed Nightingale hospitals. One, Fr James Mackay, who blessed the Nightingale hospital in East London, said this week: “There are no words sufficient to express the dedication and love of every person involved in this incredible operation to save lives. I feel privileged to be a part of it.”
On Thursday night during the livestreamed Mass Cardinal Nichols recalled Israel’s deliverance from slavery into freedom, praying that the coronavirus - “this awful pandemic” - was “part of our Passover”. He expressed his solidarity with Jewish families who would also be kept apart during one of their most sacred festivals.
“They too will celebrate only with those with whom they live. They too, like us, will strive to be united in spirit. As the Chief Rabbi said recently, this pandemic is making us realise again that the home is a house of God and a place of prayer,” he said.
Speaking during the pared down service Cardinal Nichols recalled that the Mass itself was instituted at the Last Supper.
The eternal sacrifice that Jesus offered then, and offers eternally in heaven, is made present to us every time the Mass is celebrated, he said.
“That is why it is so important that, during these days of great peril and hardship, the Mass is being celebrated every day in our churches. In the Mass, we join in the prayer of Jesus, holding our troubled world before the Father, praying with him for our healing. This is the wonder of the Mass to which we cling and for which we long.
“Today we thank God for this gift of prayer, in every form that it takes: candles in windows, ringing of bells, prayers said and sung together as a family, whispered quietly in the night. Prayer is our part in the sacrifice of Jesus, new for all eternity,” he added.
The Cardinal urged Catholics to make themselves a “banquet of love” through service and sacrifice.
“In these difficult circumstances, it is not easy to make family life a ‘banquet of love’. But, in this moment of remembrance of Jesus, we embrace again that calling: our enduring practice of service towards one another, our readiness to wash each other’s feet.”
He hoped that the Church would emerge from the pandemic renewed, ready to sacrifice and forgive, to serve and love.
“Today, as we are witnessing extraordinary acts of generous service, flowing from a thankfulness for the gift of life and deep desire to help and assist, we pray that this moment is part of our Passover. We pray that from our experience of this dreadful pandemic and of this ‘lock down’ we may emerge as a people newly aware of the key virtues we need to fashion our lives anew.”
The Cardinal urged those following the livestreamed service to stay for a period of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, keeping the tradition of watching with Jesus on the eve of Good Friday, and the veiled monstrance remained on the altar as night fell on Westminster Cathedral.
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