Celebrating the life of Venerable Elizabeth Prout

Passionist Fr Nicholas Postlethwaite gave the following homily on Saturday, at a special Mass in honour of Venerable Elizabeth Prout - Mother Mary Joseph, at St Anne and Blessed Dominic RC Church, Sutton, St Helens, Lancashire.

Teilhard de Chardin famously said Union Differentiates. His theology points to a God in which differences find new unities and the resulting outcome is more wonderful together than the two elements remaining separate. The whole of creation - including each of us individually and personally - are made up of complex diverse elements. The wonder of our Creator God is in calling us to discover a deeper greater unity as we journey through life. Those who learn to abandon themselves to the promptings of God, become an ever more unified expression of the person God wants them to be.

How did Elizabeth learn how God wanted to teach her to draw together the deepest parts of her hopes - how did she learn long before Teilhard de Chardin that God's goodness, when we abandon ourselves to it, makes us more whole and draws together strengths and powers we didn't even know we possess.

For me there were two distinct dimensions in the life of Elizabeth Prout - and the journey that God her on would result in each of these two sides coming together to make her the unique person whom we can now describe - in church language - as the Venerable Elizabeth Prout. Or as Teilhard de Chardin might say - see what I mean! - UNION DIFFERENTIATES!

The journey began in her life growing up as a young girl in in Shrewsbury, like all teenagers, searching, asking questions wondering about which way her life would go. But then in her twenty's Elizabeth was infected. There's no clear date for when exactly her infection took hold, but Elizabeth certainly must have met and was deeply influenced by Blessed Dominic. Something dramatic happened. Mistakenly we too narrowly think of Dominic in his role as Passionist missioner. True - but the more significant side to him was the fact that he was a deeply contemplative man. In fact, it is not inappropriate to refer to him as a mystic - someone for whom his personal awareness of the Presence and Power of God in his life.

What is significant is that Elizabeth was drawn into the same mystery - contact with Dominic - a seed was planted - released the same wonder and mystery in her - union differentiates - she was experiencing the same wonder within her - she was becoming in her own right united ever more fully with the God who loved her.

For Elizabeth the beautiful reassuring words of Jesus spoken to friends the night before he died which we have just heard as our Gospel today - these were the words that she kept deep in her heart giving her hope and strength. We have just heard those same word proclaimed in the Gospel. Elizabeth was totally convinced to the deepest parts of her entire being, that the words of Jesus though spoken to friends then, speaks personally and directly to her too - 'On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you'. In January 1864 Elizabeth's life was reaching its natural end. Though she knew death was approaching, and though suffering very real pain, those sisters gathering at her bedside, sensed the extraordinary deep peace in her heart - it was as if she was hearing again the echo of the words of Jesus 'On this day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you'. Elizabeth Prout was a woman whose whole life was deeply contemplative. This was the basis - the first gift - God enriched her with. But there was more. She was led to discover other challenging dimension of where God was leading her. We turn again with her to John's Gospel.

Jesus says more in John's Gospel- much much more! Can I share part of a poem by my most favourite of poets - R S Thomas. He reads St John's gospel in pictures in words as only a poet can. He paints a picture that goes way back, before the friends began their meal together with only Jesus knowing what would happen after the meal. In his poem - The Coming - he imagines God as Creator, Father and Son together, and begins his poem: 'And God held in his hand A small globe. Look -, says the Father. The Son looked. Far off, he saw a scorched land of fierce colour.' Together, Father and Son gaze at the whole world with its scorched lands and fierce frightening colours. As they both continue gazing they see that 'On a bare hill a bare tree saddened the sky. Many people held out their thin arms to it, as though waiting for a vanished April to return to its crossed boughs. Let me go there, the Son said.'

Elizabeth Prout never knew this poem. But she did hear and know John's Gospel. Words of human poetry pale beside the words of the Son of God, - the very Word of God - who has come into our scorched earth of fierce and frightening colours. God's Word - spoken now by Jesus his Son Jesus reassuring friends the day before he knew he would have to climb that bare hill of Calvary outside the walls of Jerusalem. As they finish their meal together, the friends of Jesus heard- as Elizabeth herself also heard - Jesus make them this promise - 'I will not leave you orphans; I am coming back to you'. The Son of God speaking gentle loving intimate words of consolation to friends as he himself was approaching the terrifying climax of his life. A secret so wonderful from the Word of God that they hardly dared believe it: 'I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever…'

Prompted now by that Advocate - the Spirit of the Lord impelled her in her inner vision, to leave behind securities of home and family and travel to where the darkness of poverty, where destitution was overwhelming for the poor, where exploitation and crime was a daily burden that aged the young and crippled the poor then - as now.

She set out courageously to respond to God's call. She felt impelled to take the Gospel message that spoke so clearly and strongly to her to share with those waiting and hoping. She felt called to face the world of poverty, pain, division and despair. She set out to be a voice and witness echoing the request of the Son to his Father - let me go there. Let me go to that bare hill - with its bare tree saddening Manchester skies. Let me continue your journey in that world that has not yet known your truth so that all who hear may dare to believe your promise of the Advocate you send to us all for ever.

She was sustained by that inner peace the Lord was giving her. Like him, , she wanted to go to where people held out thin arms waiting - those in the back streets and slums of Manchester. There is irony in the name of one neighbourhood she knew well- Angel Meadows! Far from angelic it was where Elizabeth began her Passionist journey walking alongside the poor and sharing her faith and hope with them - helping them too glimpse the promise of Jesus which she wanted to share every one she encountered.

Towards the end of her life - after countless struggles and set-backs, at long last she achieved a long-anticipated goal - agreement that her new Congregation of sisters was now recognised in its own right and equality with the Congregation of Passionist brothers founded by Paul of the Cross. Through her efforts, from now forward, both would walk forward together in fulfilment of the contemplative and missionary vision of Paul of the Cross. To live contemplatively the mystery of the death and Resurrection of Jesus and to witness in action to that mystery - God's love - ongoing in the crucified people and crucified world of her day - and of ours. Now she was free to joyfully sew onto her habit the Passionist sign -outward symbol for her and all her sisters - of the Passion of the Lord deep in their hearts and expressed in the actions of their lives.

On Thursday 14th January 1864, Requiem Mass was celebrated here in St Anne's, for Elizabeth Prout a few days after her death. Gathered to mourn her was her first small community of sisters who had come to live and work with her here in Sutton. Accompanied by brother Passionists with friends and parishioners from St Anne's who loved and respected this gentle strong extraordinary woman who had shared her life with them. Nearly 160 years later we continue to gather to thank God for Elizabeth Prout. What might she say to us today - about comparisons between the world of her day and that of ours today?

I suspect her first message to us in our world would be one of hope and trust in the God who sustained her and who is here sustaining us. She would likely be shocked realising the size of the problems facing our world through climate change. She would recognise a world ruled by power and resulting in war. She would not be surprised by the way poverty continues to divide and threaten peoples - and all of us - throughout the world threaten our world. She would see the temptation of many to 'give up' and say there is nothing I can do.

I am sure we can imagine Elizabeth urging us to turn as she did to where strength comes from. She would recognise and agree with Pope Francis that we are living not so much in an era that is changing but in a complete change of era. But with Pope Francis she would hear again ever more insistently those words spoken by Jesus - I am not leaving you as orphans. I am sending you strength that only the Father's Spirit and mine, can give. A Spirit to sustain you no matter what darkness seems all around. Do not be afraid.

To you her faithful Cross and Passion community of sisters - you who continue faithfully carrying her vision forward, she says - WELL DONE! Never give up! Thank you for becoming women of faith who remain courageous in reaching out to all who are starved of hope and who wait with outstretch thin arms for a message of love from the Cross.

I imagine her saying to you - faithful parishioners of St Anne's - thank you for remaining my friends and being friends to one another. Thank you for continuing the pilgrimage of so many previous generations and families learning in your lives to keep alive the memory of the Passion of Jesus and staying as witnesses to his continuing resurrection among us.

And to all of us who are Passionist pilgrim visitors - friends from near and far welcome - welcome especially you who come today for the first time. Thank you for my icon in your community in Manchester - thank you for remembering me- but most importantly - remember the God in whom we all live who leads us forward to a greater union in diversity. I didn't know Teilhard with his UNION DIFFERENTIATES - but I knew my friends Dominic and Ignatius - and through them Paul of the Cross and our shared Passionist vision of being united in the death and resurrection of Jesus - God's vision leading and uniting us all on our continuing journeys to oneness through Christ who is all in all.

Glory be to you Father who drew Elizabeth ever deeper into you - draw us all too

Glory to you Son of the Father - remind us of your love for each one of us as you reminded Elizabeth.

Glory to you Spirit and Advocate - as you gave Elizabeth, so now give us the faith and courage to show your presence in our world by our lives. Amen.