The Catholic Weekly 5 July 2020

9 5, July, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au about sacraments. Before He celebrated the first Eucharist Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, telling them to do like- wise (Jn 13:1-15). A few decades after that story was committed to pa- per, waves of what was prob- ably Smallpox claimed the lives of at least one in ten people in the Roman empire, an even higher proportion of the army, and two emper- ors. Panic spread faster than the plague, and even the great physician Galen fled Rome along with many of the bet- ter off. The Church stayed. The Roman empire at the time had no systems of care in place, and the early Christians filled the void with caritas – Christian love, fromwhich we get our word charity work – and hospitalitas – Christian hospitality, the origin of our words hospital and hospice. Staying to feed and nurse the sick, the Christians saved thousands.   When plague returned in the following century to take another million lives, the sick and dead were abandoned in the streets. Some blamed the Christians, yet again they distinguished themselves by their care. St Cyprian of Car- thage wrote on the spiritu- al significance of pestilence and encouraged Christians to redouble their service of the sick and suffering. This, he thought, was like an HSC for faith and an opportunity for Christians to shine. And it saved lives: the death rate was half in cities with significant Christian populations. Again, those who saw Christian char- ity and hospitality in action Saint Elizabeth of Hungary bringing food for the inmates of a hospital by Adam Elsheimer, circa 1598. IMAGEWIKIMEDIA COMMONS/PUBLIC DOMAIN A nurse cares for a patient with coronavirus. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/DAVID RYDER, REUTERS Communion and service: these key messages of Holy Thursday speak directly to our present situation and needs.” Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP were mightily impressed. In the centuries that fol- lowed, great Christians such as Saints Edmund and Roch, Elizabeth of Hungary and Catherine of Siena, Charles Borromeo and John of God, Aloysius and Camillus, Louise de Marillac, Damian of Molo- kai, Piergiorgio Frassati and many others demonstrated Christian heroism in caring for those with infectious dis- eases. Today we have much better social systems, health institutions and public regula- tion, but the call of Christian- ity remains: not to lose heart, not to hide, but to live faith, hope and love actively in the world. Communion and service: these key messages of Holy Thursday speak directly to our present situation and needs. Over the coming holy days we will encounter a God-man whose words and example are not only of communion and service, but also of sacri- fice and salvation. But already in days past we’ve witnessed countless acts of selfless ser- vice by health workers and pastors caring for the sick and anxious, by families and neighbours sustaining each other through isolation and grief, by researchers seeking a cure and essential workers keeping the wheels of our so- ciety turning, by those lacking work but still looking out for others, and by those leading us through all this. Three times in His Last Sup- per, Jesus addressed all those heroes and each of us about what to do in such a crisis. Af- ter washing our feet, He said “I’ve given you an example to follow.” After giving His Body and Blood for us and to us, He said “Do this inmemory of Me” (1Cor 11:23-6). And be- fore going to His death He gave us a last commandment, “No greater love has anyone than this: that one lay down one’s life for one’s friends…So love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 13:34-35; 15:12-17) *Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP is currently on leave. This is the edited text of the homily given by the Archbishop for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, on 9 April 2020 FROM THE ARCHBISHOP