Advertisement Pax ChristiICN Would you like to advertise on ICN? Click to learn more.

Homily text: Canon Pat Browne at Easter Vigil


Fr Pat sings the Exultat during the Easter Vigil

Fr Pat sings the Exultat during the Easter Vigil

These days are the days of spring with sunshine and signs of life everywhere. No wonder people want to be in the park or in the woods.

But as we were getting ready to say goodbye to the darkness of winter a new darkness descended on us. The present pandemic.

Nothing is as it was. Who would have ever thought that all our churches would be closed for Easter with no one able to attend.

We are surrounded by fear, uncertainty and death. But we are also surrounded by Love. And this gives us hope.

Pope Francis was talking about this earlier this week. Each time, he said, we face our death, or that of a person who is dear, we feel that our faith is put to the test. All our doubts emerge, all our frailty, and we ask ourselves:

"But will there truly be life after death …? Will I still be able to see and embrace again the people I have loved …?" … We all have a little fear due to this uncertainty about death.

When we speak about hope we can be led to think of it according to the common meaning of the term, that is, in reference to something beautiful that we desire, but which may or may not be attained. … People say, for example: "I hope there will be good weather tomorrow!"; but we know that there might be bad weather tomorrow … Christian hope is not like this.

Christian hope is the expectation of something that has already been fulfilled; the door is there, and I hope to reach the door. What do I have to do? Walk toward the door! I am certain that I will reach the door.

This is how Christian hope works - having the certainty that I am walking toward something that is, not something that I hope may be. This is Christian hope.

To be filled with hope is to be a person who dreams....it is to know that what is now, is not what will be in the future. It is to see beyond.

As Jesus faced the coldness, uncertainty of his passion and death on Good Friday, he never lost sight of what was beyond it. Today may be Friday he will have told himself, but Sunday is coming. The day of Resurrection. We too must do the same.

Not to Hope is settling for what is, rather than what can be. It is staying put. This leads to putrification. It leads to death. It is to be without energy, without ambition, without Joy.

And it is destructive - to myself and to all those around me. It is another sort of virus - equally dangerous. We may not be able always to control the corona virus that seeks to kill our bodies. But we can with God's help control the virus that would kill our soul, our spirit - hopelessness.

Hope enables us to see things that our eyes at the moment do not allow us to see. This reminds me of a story told in a book by Anthony de Mello SJ, an Indian Jesuit:

A writer arrived at the monastery to write a book about the Master. "People say you are a genius. Are you?" he asked.

"You might say so," said the Master with a smile.

"And what makes one a genius?" asked the intrepid reporter.

"The ability to see," said the Master.

The writer was betwixt and between. Scratching his hair with one hand and rubbing his tummy with the other, he muttered, "To see what?"

The Master quietly replied, "The butterfly in a caterpillar, the eagle in an egg, the saint in a selfish person, life in death, unity in separation, the divine in the human and the human in the divine." And we could add Life beyond Covid 19!

The genius of the Master is his hopeful vision, his ability to see what is currently unseen. Hope is living out of that, rather than being ground down by what is now.

Here in Holy Apostles we always sing, we never say, Alleluia. We sing.it. Alleluia is the song of Hope and Joy. St Augustine says in his Confessions says,

'Let us sing alleluia here on earth…Even here, among the dangers, among the trials and temptations of this life, let alleluia be sung. Let us sing, not to delight our leisure, but to ease our toil. In the way that travellers are in the habit of singing, sing, but keep on walking. …'

Remember, the darkest hours of the night are those which occur just before the dawn. So go onward always. Go onward in goodness, onward in good faith, onward in good habits and behaviour. And sing. Walk onwards and let Alleluia be our song.

Canon Pat Browne in Parish Priest at Holy Apostles, Pimlico, and Roman Catholic Duty Priest to the Houses of Parliament.

Visit Holy Apostles website and webcam: www.holyapostlespimlico.org/

Adverts

SPICMA

We offer publicity space for Catholic groups/organisations. See our advertising page if you would like more information.

We Need Your Support

ICN aims to provide speedy and accurate news coverage of all subjects of interest to Catholics and the wider Christian community. As our audience increases - so do our costs. We need your help to continue this work.

You can support our journalism by advertising with us or donating to ICN.

Mobile Menu Toggle Icon