It's Palm Sunday
and I've come to North Wales at the start of the week
that is so fundamental to our Christian faith.
Today we focus on the Last Supper,
that final meal that Jesus shared with his disciples,
that encapsulates so much of his life,
his death and his resurrection,
and what it means to Christians across the world.
Welcome to Songs Of Praise.
Coming up in today's programme, in St Asaph Cathedral,
I get up close with a remarkable modern sculpture,
helping people explore the meaning of the Last Supper...
It's created loads of conversation.
There's one story of someone coming and they hug Jesus,
just put their arms around him.
..I discover a new take on an iconic image that's aimed
at opening conversations around death and dying...
There's one sure thing when you're born
is you're going to die.
And we hope to greet it like a friend, right?
You've got to talk about it.
..and we have glorious music to reflect Holy Week.
# To the Redeemer King... #
Let us greet our newly installed Archbishop.
It's been a momentous week in the Church of England
and the worldwide Anglican Communion,
as the Most Reverend Sarah Mullally was installed
as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.
It was an honour to meet Archbishop Sarah a few weeks ago
as she took on the historic role and to hear about her calling to serve.
The image that's always sat with me is that of washing feet.
We have this wonderful image of Jesus washing
the disciples' feet and calling us to do the same,
so it's this sense of how you serve people.
And I, for one, will be holding Archbishop Sarah in my prayers
as she begins her first Holy Week in this new chapter of service.
Our first hymn points us to our ultimate example,
Jesus, the King, who rides on in majesty and humility.
The Last Supper - arguably the most important meal in history.
Jesus gathers his disciples for the Passover to share
the bread and the wine,
which he takes and he blesses.
And he says, "This is my body given for you.
"Do this in remembrance of me."
And it marks a new chapter
in the relationship between God and his people.
And of course, it's the foundation of Holy Communion -
a meal that Christians have been sharing with one another ever since.
It's a scene which happens on Maundy Thursday -
the night of Jesus' betrayal before his crucifixion -
and has been depicted in countless works of art over the centuries.
And I've come to St Asaph Cathedral
to see a sculpture that takes the idea to a new level.
Now, from a distance,
it looks like a 3D sculpture
echoing Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of The Last Supper.
But once you get up close...
..you can see that it's actually made up of
thousands of computer keys.
Since 2019, it's been fascinating visitors
in different churches and cathedrals,
and is the work of Welsh artist Peter Barnes,
who moulded it out of fibreglass.
Hello. Hello. You must be Peter. I am. Lovely to meet you.
Thank you. Oh, my goodness.
This is quite the thing, isn't it? How long did it take you?
Probably over about three years.
Wow. But not full-time. There's about 50,000 keys on here. Wow.
The Last Supper is such a...
It's such a pivotal moment in the Holy Week.
Why did you choose this particular scene?
I was going through a journey and doing interpretation
of famous paintings and Leonardo's painting,
I thought, "Oh, that's a really interesting piece.
"Could I recreate that in an abstract way
"and still get the feeling that they are humans?"
They're reacting to what's just been said, which was profound.
And why computer keys?
There was an opportunity of making patterns with the shapes.
But also, of course, there's the words and the letters
on the keys.
The passages are hidden in it,
so it becomes a little bit of a word search.
Judas, he's got his fistful of silver...
Oh, yeah. It says silver just there.
..and then if you look carefully, you can read,
"One of you will betray me." Oh, yeah.
And then, of course, there's this wonderful circle on Jesus's chest.
There's three paths,
and they spread out into the heart of Christ,
which is surrounded by a circle of home keys.
It's that journey with the end destination in Christ.
The altar's just around the corner here, where we celebrate Communion.
You know, to have it in churches, what does it mean to you?
Well, it's a privilege.
You know, it's a joy.
I wanted adults to be able to enjoy it,
but I wanted children to be able to enjoy it as well.
Today, the cathedral's youth group have come to see the sculpture.
Come and get stuck in and have a look and tell me what you can see.
It's like a big word search.
Judas! So if you look on "Judas", you can find the word "traitor".
It's wonderful to see how Peter's sculpture
can be used as a teaching tool.
James. Yeah. Who else have we got?
Judas. Judas.
I think this guy is my favourite. Yeah.
Reverend Josh Askwith is Canon Pastor at the cathedral
and helps run the youth group.
So tell me, what kind of reactions have you been getting
here in the cathedral? It's had some fab reactions.
People from all over and all walks of life have come,
and just seeing Christ in a different way,
it's created loads of conversation.
There's one story of someone coming and they hugged Jesus,
just put their arms around him.
And when people look at the Last Supper image
that you've got here, what do you hope they take away from it?
Do you know, it's that word in the middle of Christ.
It's that word of home for me. Jesus is our home.
That no matter what's going on in the world around us,
and it is anxious, it is fast-paced at the minute,
we can come and be with Christ in home.
At the heart of the Last Supper is Jesus's hospitality,
sharing and service - cornerstones of the Christian faith.
Well, for one church in Greater Manchester,
they've been so inspired by Jesus's last meal
that on Sundays, they often swap pulpits and pews for lunch tables.
This is Langworthy Community Church in Salford,
who meet some Sundays in the lunch hall of a local school.
Welcome, everyone, and good afternoon
and welcome to Langworthy Community Church.
Started by Chris Lane and his wife Esther,
they serve a full meal as the centre of many Sunday services.
Initially, when we started the church 21 years ago,
we just wanted a place where everyone was welcome
and that anyone could come
and we kind of figured food is a great, welcoming thing.
Hey, everyone. All right, Chris?
As we started to look into the Bible,
we realised that, actually, in the earliest church, from Jesus onwards,
most of their main services started with a full meal.
And so we kind of felt like, yeah,
we're following in his footsteps in that way.
Their first Last Supper-inspired service
sparked confusion amongst the congregation.
They would come to me during the meal and say,
"When's the service starting?" And I would say, "It's started."
Around the meals themselves,
there is a sense of, like, holiness and encounter with God,
and that's what church is.
And it's expressed most beautifully
around a meal table, because this is the stuff of life.
As part of the meal, they take communion - just like Jesus did.
The Last Supper was the first-ever communion,
if you like. Today we look forward to the day he's going to return,
and we look back to that first one and we say,
"Lord, would you meet us in this day, in our time?"
Taking Jesus's blood and the bread as his body,
it reminds us weekly that, like, Jesus's presence
is here with us and that we can all experience him and love him.
And I think that our church really encapsulates that.
Jesus was about to go to his death.
He wanted to spend time with his friends.
And I just think, following that example,
to sit and be real with people and worship together,
it's a really good combination.
As well as sharing Jesus's table,
Chris also shares the scriptures.
..Jesus and he breaks it and he gives it to his disciples.
And he says, "Take this and eat this,
"for this now is my body which is broken for you."
The Last Supper...and that story
has been a huge help to us cos it keeps us anchored in,
"Why are we doing this?
"What is the source of our love for others,
"our compassion for others?"
It brings us back to that central part of our faith,
and everything else springs out of that.
It's hugely important for us as a church,
whatever our needs are at the moment,
whatever you want to say to the Lord, let's bring it to him now.
A song that's meant a lot to us as a church over the years
has been Goodness Of God.
It reminds us, even in the hardest times,
that we experience God's goodness and faithfulness.
Now, the search for the BBC Young Chorister of the Year is on.
And while some of our entrants will sing in cathedral choirs
and sit in choir stalls like these,
you could be in a choir of any type,
a worship group, or even just singing on your own at home.
Here is how to apply.
Go to...
..and upload two videos of you singing sacred music from any genre.
But be quick,
as you must apply before midnight on Tuesday the 6th of April.
And here's last year's senior winner, Al,
with a song perfect for Holy Week.
One of the things that makes the Last Supper such a dramatic scene
is that of course Jesus knew that he was going to die.
Well, I've come to an art studio in Mold, not far from St Asaph,
to see a new interpretation of that scene
that hopefully helps people to face death with hope
and start a conversation
about something that we're all going to have to face one day.
This is Ceri Hughes, who started Same But Different
to create visual campaigns to spark conversation
and change attitudes towards subjects
including disabilities and death.
There you go, Teresa, what do you reckon?
It's very...atmospheric, isn't it?
Her latest project recreated the Last Supper
with the apostles portrayed by end-of-life professionals.
And Jesus played by Teresa,
who has dementia and is planning for her death and funeral.
Hi. Ceri and Teresa? Yes.
Let me let me take this off and get comfy
and we can have a chat about this wonderful picture.
So, Ceri, you're the artist. What was your motivation?
My mum died a few years ago, and it was a really bad death,
and we didn't get to have those last conversations.
It was during Covid, everyone was isolated,
so it was really important for me
that we opened up the conversations about death and dying
so there was nothing left unsaid.
I'm sorry about your mum.
See, now I get choked up. It's OK. Erm...
For me, there's too many people dying alone and lonely,
and I don't want to see that. Yeah.
So that's why this project is personal to me.
Why did you choose the Last Supper?
Jesus is going to die soon.
And for him, he's surrounded by people that are important to him.
And that's how we would like people to start talking about death,
but also learn how they can support people in their last days,
especially when it comes to dying.
Teresa, you're nodding away. You're the star of the show here,
in front and centre. And I hear you've got a new nickname.
They don't call you... Tesus. Tesus.
Now I'm Tesus Jesus. I did feel a bit blasphemous.
Oh, I'm so sorry. Do you need me to absolve you?
Yes, please. There you go. You're done.
THEY LAUGH
This is personal to you? Yeah.
I have been given a terminal diagnosis.
Some people don't understand that with dementia.
But you've got to talk about it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
There's one sure thing when you're born
is you're going to die.
And we hope to greet it like a friend, right?
That's the dream, is that... I'm not scared of dying. Wonderful.
Tell me about your death and dying plans. Hospice.
Hospice is a wonderful place. I want to go into the hospice.
We've all talked about it as a family. Good. Good.
And then...my final hour,
all push me outside,
and I want to die under the sky.
I don't want to die under a ceiling.
That's beautiful. It's lovely.
What we've found through the project is it has encouraged people
to have those last minute conversations,
and that is so important.
Um, what do you want people to take away from the image
and from you being part of it?
Hope.
And that you can face your death? Peaceful.
Has it affected your faith, being part of this?
I've always had my faith
and it's just awakened it in me again.
How does that feel to have a renewed faith?
Feels great.
THEY LAUGH
Everything's sorted. It's all been spoken about.
And hope my soul goes and meets my mum.
And hopefully, when they put you outside, it won't be raining.
I'll pray for a sunny day.
Thank you.
And I know you've chosen all sorts of things for your funeral.
Tell me, what's the hymn?
How Great Thou Art. Great choice. It's a wonderful one to choose.
And I love listening to Elvis Presley sing it.
WHISPERING: Me too!
He sings a great version of it. He does. I don't think
we've got Elvis to sing it for you... No. ..but we'll do our best.
He might be up there. He might sing it when you get there, yeah.
THEY LAUGH
Next week, Pam Rhodes celebrates Easter in Cornwall
and joins with Christians who've placed a giant cross
on the landscape for the last 50 years.
And now a prayer reflecting on the Last Supper,
written by Reverend Josh.
Lord Jesus, we come to your table with open hands and honest hearts,
remembering the love that led you to the cross.
Christ, who feeds the hungry heart
as we break bread and share our lives together,
make our tables places of welcome.
Saviour that broke bread, knowing what lay ahead,
meet us in our fears of death and parting.
And teach us to trust that every ending in you
becomes the doorway to new life.
Amen.
A huge thank you to everyone for sharing their stories
and their artistic talents today.
We're back at St Asaph Cathedral in a few weeks' time
for a very special episode featuring the Royal Maundy Service.
Until then, we end today with a hymn in praise to our Redeemer King.
Until next time, bye for now.