Easter Reflections by Fr Marcus Francis
Dear parishioners, visitors and people of goodwill
I hope you have a moment to read these reflections which I
have composed to help us make sense of the Easter Triduum – the great three
days of Easter. In them I hope you find an insight to locate the power of the
Risen Christ in your own lives and so be refreshed in faith, hope and love this
Easter. Mass is an encounter with the Christ whom we believe to be risen and
his life is mediated to us both in the Word and Communion. May your visit to
this church today be truly blessed no matter what your stage of life or the state of your
prayer life.
Holy Thursday
Much has been made of the decision by Pope Francis to wash
the feet of people other than men on Holy Thursday. Some see it at as a
challenge to tradition and in fact even to doctrine. I think we need to look
closer at the situation before we jump to any conclusions. We have to remember
that the liturgy has the ceremonial at the Vatican as its paradigm however this
needs to be adjusted throughout the world according to legitimate variations.
These variations take account of the options given by the liturgy itself or the
circumstances in which individuals find themselves. For instance, what would a
priest do when, as a chaplain to a convent of contemplative nuns, he is to
celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper? Does this mean he cannot wash anyone’s
feet because no men are present? We say that the Pope is servus servorum Dei – the Servant of the servants of God. This was
a title claimed by Pope St Gregory the Great. The deacons are the ones in the
church who have a special role, through ordination, of serving. The Pope
traditionally would wash the feet of twelve deacons thus being the servant of
the servants. The deacons being all men meant that the equivalent was asked of
others in throughout the world would be to have twelve men. To my mind it has
nothing to do with the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood. It has
more to do with how the priesthood is to be lived out. That is a challenge, in
particular, to the ordained priests, as well as to all who are baptised and
thus share in the priesthood of Christ. In this sense washing the feet of the
humblest parishioners, men, women or children, would be the most suitable thing
to do in our part of the world.
Good Friday
What a dark and terrible day! Jesus, the light of the world,
is snuffed out. In his mission he preached that God would never forget us. He
showed how God’s Kingdom was in fact very near to us and with his miracles that
we need not be condemned to experience oppression, loss and sin forever. Jesus
gave people hope. Now, after a period of brutal and terrfying violence Jesus, together
with all the hope, he inspired in his followers is put to death. The Devil,
frustrated during the Temptations in the Desert, now he has his hour. Not only
that he is victorious. Sometimes, we come to those moments of irredeemable
loss. It is important that we acknowledge them for what they are. This is because
they tell us what life would be like without the Lord and the Resurrection. If
you want to know what the existential experience of atheists ultimately is all
you need to do is to enter the absurdity and suffering of Good Friday when the
Lord had been taken down from the Cross and all was quiet on Calvary.
Easter Vigil
On the third day after the crucifixion, using the Jewish
method of calculation, the despair of Good Friday is suddenly dispelled. Christ
illuminates the darkness with a flame that can never be extinguished. He is
Risen as he said! In this the disciples know him to be God because he did what
only God could do. He opened the eyes of a man who had been born blind but now
he opens up our eyes to the power, mercy and love of God which overcomes even
the rejection of the crucifixion. This is the only explanation for the fact
that the disciples who were ardent and committed Jews could ever think that a
human being was God. The resurrection is amazing. The resurrection is
miraculous. Come to think of it so is Creation. That things simply are rather
than nothing at all continues to astonish us and yet here we are a part of it.
In the same way the Resurrection is a new creation – the eighth day – when God
does something new. It amazes us and astonishes us yet we are a part of the
Resurrection and it is the life of the Risen Christ into which we have been
baptised and thereby born into the promise of a life that has no end. Your
presence at Mass is an act of gratitude for the gift of the resurrection and
the acknowledgement of Christ’s power in your own life. He is Risen indeed, alleluia,
alleluia!
Easter Sunday Morning
The Gospel for the Easter morning Mass comes from the Gospel
according to John. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb overcome with grief. She
had been at Calvary on Good Friday and now she has come to grieve privately at
the tomb. To add insult to injury she finds that the tomb is empty. Not only
has the Lord been put to death his body has been stolen as well! In that moment
of profound sadness the Risen Christ appears to her. She does not recognise him
until he calls her by name. Her response is to try to hold on to him but the
Lord instructs her to tell the others. Sometimes in our lives we have to deal
with sadness, grief and loss. Like Mary we return in our minds or even in
person to the situation or emotion time and time again. We feel alone and
seemingly abandoned by God and by others. As times goes past even the memories
start to fade and the reality of that moment is taken away. All we have left is
loss and sadness. In our faith, however, especially in the sacraments, the
Risen Christ is there for us and his power is manifest. We may not realise it
straight away but in time we see that it is the Lord who was carrying us all
along just like in the well known parable of "Footprints." In that
experience we are instructed not to hold onto the past or to remain in our
grief rather we are to share our hope, faith and experience of grace with
others. In this way our faith is both verified and our wound is healed. Mary
was special because her faith led her to seek the Lord even after his death.
She did not hide away in the Upper Room, like Peter, nor did she commit suicide
like Judas. Perhaps we need some of her faith and perseverance to carry us
through the trials and griefs in our life so we, too, will know the power of
the resurrection and have the Lord call us by name.
Happy Easter everyone!
