The Archbishop of Westminster has described how, at this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, Catholics are like disciples waiting in the upper room.
In a video to mark Pentecost next weekend, Cardinal Vincent Nichols urges everyone to spend time in “fervent, focused prayer” for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Vigil of Pentecost on Saturday.
He made the video on Ascension, when the disciples were told to await the coming of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“We have this image of them gathered in the upper room, awaiting this gift. When that gift comes, it creates a whole new energy. The Holy Spirit fills them with the energy of God, and the mission of the Church, as it were, bursts out of the upper room.”
He says the gift of the Holy Spirit removes fear, deepens joy, and it deepens the desire to let others know of the love, compassion and the service that Jesus inspires.
“There are little parallels with what we're living through now,” he says. “In a sense, I could say we are living through an experience of being closed in in the upper room. We don't go out so much. We certainly at this point can't gather in our churches; but we do gather faithfully together at home to do exactly what those first disciples with Mary were doing.
“They gathered in prayer, they ate together, and they obeyed the Lord: they waited for the coming of this gift. We have a sense of that waiting too: waiting when we can move more freely in society, when we can gather, and therefore, of course, what we're really looking forward to is gathering in our churches, being able to visit the church just to pray, and then wanting to gather again at Mass as best we can when it's safe.”
He says he hoped that Pentecost will deepen the life of the Church. “As we go through this strange experience, maybe we're learning more about the ways in which we breathe in deeply the gifts of God. We're learning more about how to do that at home, how to that in terms of new media, how to do that in encouraging each other, and also in which we can strengthen the way in which we breathe out.”
He thanks those parishes who are providing services for the poor and needy. Many parishes in Westminster diocese are providing hundreds of meals, some of them every single day. “As we move forward, and as we make the preparations which we have to make for the opening of our churches, we need to be drawing together all that we have learnt over these weeks, about nurturing faith between us, at home and in new ways within a parish.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols on Pentecost from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.
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