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.
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