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Rt Rev Hugh Lindsay, Bishop Emeritus of Hexham and Newcastle, and the priests
of the Cathedral, celebrated the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper
on Holy Thursday evening.
With the celebration of Mass on the evening of Holy Thursday, "the
Church begins the Easter Triduum and recalls the Last Supper in which the
Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, showing his love for those who
were his own in the world, he gave his body and blood under the species of
bread and wine offering to his Father and giving them to the Apostles so
that they might partake of them, and he commanded them and their successors
in the priesthood to perpetuate this offering."
In his homily Bishop Hugh Lindsay said: "I was greatly struck by Canon
Cunningham's words about Bishop Kevin and the Mass. 'The Mass was the centre
of his life', and, 'he celebrated every Mass as though it were his first'.
We can never pay sufficient honour and reverence to the Holy Eucharist, the
gift Our Lord handed to His apostles and to us on the eve of his death."
He continued: "Our Lord's other parting gift to the apostles was the
priesthood which we celebrated at the Chrism Mass here this morning. We have
been called by Our Lord from the baptised to minister for all our lives to
our brothers and sisters; some of us have been called to the fulness of the
priesthood as Bishop, to be a successor of the apostles and the father of
the diocesan family. That, and his own devotion to the Mass is why we are
missing Bishop Kevin so much."
During the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper we also commemorated the action
of Jesus when He washed the feet of his disciples, and during this Mass
Bishop Lindsay washed the feet of those people who are to become Catholics
at the Easter Vigil.
At the end of this Mass the Blessed Sacrament was taken in procession to
the "Altar of Repose" - a special place where the eucharist is
kept until the distribution of communion on the next day, Good Friday.
There was no blessing or formal end to this service because the three days
of the Triduum, that is, the Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday and the
Easter Vigil all form one service.
 Listen
to Homily given by Bishop Hugh Lindsay [MP3]
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