Sunday, April 12, 2020

Easter's Not Kids' Stuff



Happy Easter! Happy, homebound, holy Easter to each and every one of you who are filling the pews of our virtual congregation this morning.

Someone asked me what I’ve missed most during these unusual celebrations. I answered rather obviously, “people.” As soon as I come through the door of the church, I notice the absence of lectors and servers and extraordinary ministers, and there are no welcome ministers greeting me and others as I come into the church.

Another thing that’s missing is children. I’m thinking we should record some of the noisy ones and play it back during the homily!

As you know if you’ve been to Sunday Mass at Christ the Redeemer, we have a special liturgy of the word for children.  After the opening prayer, we invite the youngsters to come up for a short prayer, and then they leave for a kid-friendly time with dedicated adult catechists who share with them the message of the readings.

I really miss those few moments before the children traipse out following whichever brave little leader takes the book of readings and holds it over his or her head. Some of the things they say would bring the house down if the congregation could hear.

My favourite was the little guy who gave me a little wave as he headed out. “Good-bye, Jesus,” he said.

That was at least more flattering than the young girl in my last parish who asked her mother in a loud voice, “why are they calling Father Greg ‘Mount Seymour’?”

Today, of course, we have no special liturgy of the word for children. And, I have to tell you, we have no homily for children. This would be a good time for the younger folk to take a little break, so long as they don’t need careful watching, since my thoughts today are entirely aimed at adults.

There are no Easter bunnies or Easter eggs on my mind this year; we’re not going to reflect on the Gospel According to Purdys. If ever there were a time for an adult Easter, this is it.

I am at the mercy of technology this morning, but I want to show you a video clip to help us understand that the Easter happened to change our lives, not to give us a beautiful Spring holiday. The anxiety and even fear of these uncertain times can open our hearts to a message we may not have truly heard before.

Please watch this short film with me now…

You see what I mean? That’s not a message for children. It’s for grownups who understand what darkness looks like, and are ready to believe that God has overpowered whatever is broken in their lives.

How many of us have used the phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don't fix it?” It means leave something alone; don’t try to correct, fix, or improve what’s working well enough. Sensible enough.

But disastrous for our spiritual life. God did not become man, die on a cross, and rise from the dead so that we could muddle along in our brokenness, stumble around in our woundedness, and live what the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau called “lives of quiet desperation.”

The full force of Easter to change our lives rang out last night in the words of the of the Easter Proclamation, the Exsultet. Its sanctifying power “dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen… joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord” and sets Christian believers apart from the gloom of sin.
  
If words less poetic but even more succinct, one of the Vigil prayers asks God “may the whole world know and see that what was cast down is raised up, what had become old is made new, and all things are restored to integrity through Christ.”

Dear friends, that’s the difference Easter makes. That’s the point of the Falling Plates video. What was cast down? Us. Humanity. Broken by sin. What had become old? The human spirit, tired by daily toil unredeemed by hope. What is restored to wholeness through Christ? Each of us willing to accept the grace of this holy day—willing to live in the power of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

The video dramatizes what Jesus accomplished in his passion and death, and continues to share freely with us.

Yet the passage of time and the power of Purdy’s [for non-local readers, Purdy's is our big local chocaltier!] may well have dulled our faith in the real meaning of Easter… until now, when so many of us are starting to wonder whether we have it in us to be our own Redeemer, after all. Our unexamined Christian beliefs are no longer a backdrop but moving to center stage in our anxious lives.

Christian faith has the answer to the questions we are asking at this time of the pandemic. Adults answers to relieve adult fears.

In just a few moments I will invite you to strengthen or even restore your faith by the renewal of your baptismal promises. There is nothing ‘virtual’ about this moment in our celebration. When it comes to making a personal commitment before God, there is no spiritual difference—none at all—between standing in church or standing in your family room.
  
Your “I do” to these promises can set you on a new path if you’ve wandered off. And if you’d like support and guidance in walking on that path, the discipleship path, join us for an online faith study. The Discovery small groups aim to distill and unpack the core message of Easter; you can find the details in this week’s bulletin which is available on our website, ctrwestvan.ca

It’s been an unusual Easter, but the pandemic did not stop the work of restoration and healing that the restoration of the broken plates symbolized so well. When he saw the Falling Plates video, Father Jeff made a comment I will remember until next Easter: “If those were Catholic plates, when they came back together they’d land on a dinner table, where we could gather for a meal.”

Next year, ransomed, healed and restored, we will again be gathered around this altar to celebrate Jesus, risen from the dead.


No comments:

Post a Comment