Faith in Time of Trouble (Easter5.2020)

Today we’re going to touch on some serious subjects.  Worry. Fear. Discouragement, and even depression.

But I’d like to start on a light note, especially since some of my family in chilly Ontario are watching this morning. They’ve already groaned at the internet meme that sums up their week: “My biggest fear is getting a murder hornet stuck in my face mask while shoveling snow on a Saturday in the middle of May.”

Thursday marked the 75^th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. But I needed no reminder to get me thinking about that war; I’m not a historian, but I’ve probably thought about it every day since this pandemic began—and particularly about the people of Great Britain and of London especially.

Horrible as the battle with the coronavirus has been, from the beginning I’ve been comparing it to the horrors endured by Londoners. How did they cope? How did they live with the stress, the fear, and the sorrow?

Looking back, we take their courage and endurance for granted. Yet that was far from certain. Many “believed that London would be reduced to rubble within minutes of war being declared.” The raids would cause such terror that millions would go insane. A military planner predicted in the 1920s that “The hospitals will be stormed, traffic will cease, the homeless will shriek for help, the city will be a pandemonium.”

Even now, a book I started yesterday opens with a question I’ve often wondered about. How did Churchill withstand the stress? How did his family and friends? It must be hard enough to be Dr. Bonnie Henry.

 

I haven’t got far enough in the book to have an answer. But today I’d like to ask how we can best withstand the stress as the Covid-19 crisis continues—for it’s not over, despite last week’s efforts at news about gradual reopening.

Specifically, I want to look for an answer in this morning’s Gospel—in the words of Jesus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

Jesus goes even further later on in the same chapter of John’s Gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

What do these words mean? Are Christians immune from fear? Or as one friend asked me last week, is our faith expected to “insulate” us from trouble?

I think you know part of the answer from your own experience. Does anyone think Christians never feel troubled?  Because if that’s true, I’m no Christian, and neither are many of you. But when we hear Jesus say this, we may think we’re not supposed to be troubled; we’re somehow failing as Christians when we’re in distress.

That can’t be what our Lord means. Our experience tells us that fearful things, like the falling of bombs in the blitz, the danger of invasion, or the threat of infection all produce the emotion of fear. They trouble our hearts whether we want them to or not; whether we’re devout or shaky in our faith.

So don’t expect faith to shelter you from all trouble. If things are getting you down, if worry and fear are troubling you, don’t blame yourself and don’t blame God.  The words Jesus speaks should comfort not criticize us. They’re an invitation rather than an order.

The invitation is clear: turn to your faith in time of trouble. But don’t rely on the faith you have, on the relationship you have. In times of trouble, we need more faith, deeper faith.

Jesus prepares his disciples for suffering by answering their questions. What’s the way? Who is the Father? He reminds them of the miracles they’ve seen. And he challenges them: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

This is a time to question God. Why is this happening? Where are you? But we must let him answer. Ever had the experience of someone pelting you with questions and not allowing you to respond? Even watching a debate or a news conference we know that’s not fair.

Sometimes we’ll find the answer deep in our hearts through quiet prayer. Other times, the answer can be found in the Word of God. I experienced that in a simple way while I was writing this homily. I wanted to be sure that I was completely correct in saying it’s okay for Christians to be troubled. The next thing you know I remembered that later in John’s Gospel Jesus told his disciples they would face trouble and suffering (cf. Jn 16:33). So when he says “do not let your hearts be troubled” he means “do not let trouble take over your heart.”

As Martin Luther said “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” This is not a time to deny our troubled thoughts but to counter them with affirmations of faith and trust.

If there’s something really troubling you and you can’t figure out where faith comes in, feel free to send me an email. I’ll try to reply with a verse or two from Scripture that may help.

Finally, a brief note on clinical depression. This is an illness, and has nothing to do with a lack of faith. That was brought home to many when the late Archbishop Raymond Roussin made his depression public. What I have been saying about faith applies to depression, just in a different way. Faith helps to redeem the suffering of mental illness even when it does not reduce it.

Let me conclude with a word about something that’s troubling all of us—the question “when can I come back to Mass? When will I be able to receive the Eucharist again?”

The Archbishop said on Friday that he hopes it may soon be possible to resume public Masses in a restricted fashion. And our Parish Pastoral Council met on Saturday to consider detailed plans to reopen the parish for Mass when this is possible.

Our overriding principle is that safety remains our paramount concern, and we will only resume Masses when we are able to do so safely, carefully respecting the provincial health authority’s directives.

The Council also acknowledged the difficult decisions that Archbishop Miller faces as our chief shepherd and expressed its confidence in his guidance in this challenging time.

We all look forward to the day when we are able again to gather around the Lord’s table and to receive the sacred food that brings peace and joy to troubled hearts. But in the meantime, we ask God to strengthen our faith and to build us up into a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.