The Catholic Weekly 12 April 2020

10 12, April, 2020 F rom the archbishop catholicweekly.com.au He is with us now We might wonder where God is with us in this crisis. The truth is that he never left us. He is here W here do we fit into the sto- ry of Jesus’ last week and what might it say to us in the present pandemic? Well, let’s start with the sick, the dy- ing, the dead from this pan- demic. So far COVID-19 has claimed 60,000 lives, one of them this past week an Eng- Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem is depticted by Frans Francken (17th Century). IMAGE:WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/PUBLIC DOMAIN Healthcare workers, the sick, the dying, public officials - now is the time for the Church tomake God present to everyone in a time of crisis. lish Dominican I knew. Well, in Christ’s Passion story there is sickness, dying and death too. Jesus prays in the garden, “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death”, and He sweats blood. A melee follows in which a guy is injured. Jesus is tortured and bleeding, hung up with two others for humiliation and slow death. The crucified, like those with COVID, strug- gle to breathe, have a feverish thirst, and die of asphyxiation. In Jesus, God is in total soli- darity with us in our vulnera- bility and suffering, even de- scending into the ‘hell’ of the dying and dead. The challenge for our Church and community, de- spite present restrictions, is to find ways to be more present and helpful than ever to the sick, dying and dead. For they are there alongside Christ in Holy Week and He is with them right now. How about our heroic health professionals, pastors, carers and others endanger- ing and exhausting them- selves for others? At the Last Supper, Jesus washes His dis- ciples’ feet. In the fracas in the Garden, He heals the wound- ed servant’s ear. Even from the Cross, He comforts His grieving mother, His lonely friend, the man dying in the ‘bed’ beside Him. Some also care for Him. The women of Jerusalemwail and Veroni- ca wipes His bloodied face. A soldier gives Him vinegar to dull His thirst and pain. So, too, the challenge for us right now is to provide healthcare and pastoral care, of course, but also to support those who do. Those carers are with Christ in the story of Holy Week and He is here with them right now. Then there are the isolat- ed and anxious, elderly and vulnerable, ‘locked down’ in their homes, some feeling alone and afraid. At the end of the brawl in the garden Mat- thew tells us “all the disciples deserted him and ran away.” Over the following days they cower in the Cenacle, watch anxiously from a distance, deny ever knowing Jesus. Mary and John keep lone- some vigil. The Magdalene, Peter, John, each goes solitary to the tomb. The Lord, too, finds Himself friendless as He prays in the Garden, alone in His prison cell, unaided at His tri- al, deserted on the Cross. Fi- nally, He’s laid in that loneli- est place, the tomb. The challenge for Church and society is to find new ways to connect and be there for the isolated, anxious and vulnerable. For in Holy Week they are with Christ and He is with them right now. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP