As the world waits in worry over the coronavirus pandemic, the Triduum is the antidote to everything that ails the world, Fr. Mech preaches

DETROIT — On a Good Friday when suffering and death threatens to overwhelm the world, Christians turn with great hope to the one death that overpowers the rest.

“Today, we don’t celebrate death. We celebrate the life we receive through the Cross, through his Passion,” Fr. J.J. Mech said. “We celebrate that Jesus waits, high on the Cross, to take away our death — whether it be a physical, a mental or a moral burden that we carry. Turn over everything to Christ.”

Fr. Mech, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, preached April 10 during a solemn Good Friday liturgy from the mother church of the Archdiocese of Detroit as more than 26,000 faithful participated via livestream in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the worst global plague in 100 years.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron presided over the service, which included a singing of the Lord’s Passion, special prayers of the faithful — including an intercession for the pandemic’s victims — and a virtual veneration of the Cross.

To the traditional solemn Good Friday prayers for the pope, bishops, those in public office and for those who do not confess Christ or believe in God, a final, special petition was added:

“Let us pray also for all those who suffer the consequences of the current pandemic, that God the Father may grant health to the sick, strength to those who care for them, comfort to families and salvation to all the victims who have died,” the cantor chanted.

In response, Archbishop Vigneron prayed: “Almighty and Ever-Living God, only support of our human weakness, look with compassion upon the sorrowful condition of your children who suffer because of this pandemic. Relieve the pain of the sick, give strength to those who care for them, welcome into your peace those who have died, and throughout this time of tribulation, grant that we may all find comfort in your merciful love.”

The extraordinary prayer was added to this year’s liturgy by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship through a special decree.

Preaching during the liturgy, Fr. Mech said many people are suffering loneliness, isolation, job loss or hunger because of the pandemic, while others have fallen ill or are caring for those who are sick.

“We are experiencing a time of suffering and death,” Fr. Mech said. “This is a Lent like no other, but the death we celebrate today is like no other. We celebrate the confrontation between death and life itself.”

Fr. Mech said some have questioned why God would allow the pandemic in the first place — but those questions originate from a place of anger and fear.

“Maybe without realizing it, we’ve become complacent in our understanding of life and death,” Fr. Mech said. “Society has trained us to look at life only, to avoid focusing on death at all costs. This is not a fun thing to say, but whether it be next week or 50 years from now, we are all going to die.”

Fr. Mech told of an “old Russian legend” personifying Death, whose power caused everything she touched — including man — to wither. One day, weary and lonely, Death sat on a hill beneath three crosses, too sorrowful to look at them, and wept.

“Suddenly, above her, she heard a voice, ‘I thirst,’” Fr. Mech said. “Her gaze met two fathomless eyes. From their depths flowed a brilliant warm light, the likes of which she had never experienced.”

Reverently, Death put her hands behind her back so as not to touch the man, but like all others before him, he, too, “became lifeless and cold.”

Death, however, “knew he was different,” Fr. Mech said. When the man was buried, before the soldiers rolled the stone to seal the tomb, she entered it.

“What passed between him and Death, no human will know,” Fr. Mech said. “But on Sunday, death was not there. Since that Sunday, all who look upon death with the eyes of faith see it differently — they see that Love is life, and death is only a gateway to eternal life.”

Sometimes, people are tempted to think Jesus suffered less because he is the Son of God, Fr. Mech said. However, it is for precisely that reason that he suffered more.

“His friends really did abandon him. Those were real thorns that pierced his head and eyelids. That was warm spit, and it was real. That whip really made his flesh tear, and those were real spikes that pierced his flesh,” Fr. Mech said. “The words, ‘Father, take this cup from me’ — that was a real cry from his lips.

“Jesus didn’t suffer less. He suffered more, and he did this for us,” Fr. Mech said.

As the Church walks its final days before Easter, “you and I need to grab hold of the only force that can overcome death, and that’s God’s love in Christ,” he said.

Fr. Mech implored those suffering both physical death and with “the death of the soul, sin” — from broken marriages to isolation and sadness — to “meet this love.”

“You and I are called today to reverence the Cross, but before we do that, let’s grab that fear, grab our sin and doubts and hand them over to Jesus,” Fr. Mech said. “Make a confession in your hearts, and say, ‘Bless me, Jesus, for I have sinned. I have known death.’ Tell him you want that burden lifted, and you want to see life.

“Tell God you want to unleash the Gospel and be alive again in your faith,” Fr. Mech added. “In these uncertain times, death is defeated. Only Jesus has power. Only his love is stronger than death.”

Easter Sunday Mass

Easter Sunday Mass will be broadcast from the cathedral at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 12— an hour earlier than the usual noon time. After Mass, Archbishop Vigneron will bless the city and the Archdiocese of Detroit from the open doors of the cathedral, and the faithful will be invited to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which carries with it a plenary indulgence. 

The faithful also are invited to participate in the final portion of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Holy Week Home Retreat on Friday, April 10, at 7 p.m. It will be livestreamed from the Archdiocese of Detroit and Detroit Catholic’s Facebook pages, as well as from aod.org/livemasses.