It was a dark night in April back in 1973. The Vietnam War was just coming to an end. Richard Nixon said “I am not a crook” and the Watergate scandal was just beginning – as was the construction work on the CN tower. Trudeau was the Prime Minister. The Old one -not the kid. OPEC was just about to start flexing its Oil Well muscle. There was conflict in the Middle East. Still. The US supreme court had made their Roe vs. Wade decision. And the Exorcist was playing at the movies.
The cathedral in London was in darkness. Stillness. Small sounds of creaks from the pews and muffled coughs of the patrons echoed off the cold, stone walls. It was like a tomb. An eerie type of place. Not a place of comfort. Which somehow, was fitting.
For the day before we had remembered again … vividly, the events around the death by crucifixion of a young man, J’eshua ben Josef, an itinerant prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. For those who followed him, his death was an event that they just could not understand. For each of them had placed their hopes that this man, this prophet, this healer would be the beginning of a new era in their lives. A new era in the world.
But now he was dead. And so, they walked in darkness, as if in a tomb. Not a place of comfort. And they had no idea what was going to happen next. Much like that young man in 1973, walking down the aisle of the Cathedral in the darkness, listening to the sterile echo of his steps. Seeking to join the Catholic Church. Unsure of what the future may bring.
But then, from a blessed fire, one large candle was lit. And as that Candle entered the Cathedral, smaller individual candle lights became evident, all fed from that Easter Candle. The flame of faith passed on from one person to another. The light of Christ passed on from one person to another, until the entire cathedral was filled with the light of a thousand candles. And that young man for the first time in his life was able to begin to understand what it means to experience the resurrection . What it means to be community. What it means to be Catholic.
To see the darkness dispelled when God chose to reveal Godself to us, when God chose to show us God’s very essence, God’s very nature in the person of God’s son; Love
Love so strong, so big, that in a blink of God’s eye a Universe was created for us to exist in and as we evolved we became ever more able to sense that there is a greater meaning to our lives, that there is a greater purpose in our existence, that there is a greater hand guiding creation.
And on that Easter morning two millennia ago, those women who went to the tomb for the first time in their lives were able to begin to understand what it means to experience the resurrection.
We here tonight enter into the darkness of tomb, we see the Candle, once dark, regain its light, and from that light – OUR lights flow; and we sing a hymn of thanks for the power of that light in our experience of the Easter Candle, and then listen as the word of God presents to us thousands of years of lived experience of God acting in our midst.
And we join in wonder with those women at the tomb, as they begin to understand what it means to experience the resurrection.
Just as, almost two thousand years later, that young man in the cathedral was able to begin to understand what it means to experience the resurrection.
And just as, over two thousand years later and half a world away, we here tonight are able to begin to understand what it means to experience the resurrection.
Tonight is a special night – a blessed night – a holy night – a night when God reveals God’s power and majesty in humble signs of flame and fluid. A night when we acknowledge that God has broken forth into our world – into our hearts – into our lives – with a message that God is Love. With a message that we are called to be like God. With a message that we are called to let Love become the essence of our being, too.
The women who went to the tomb had no idea what it all meant. Well, we have read the book and so we know how it turns out for them.
That young man in 1973? Well he had absolutely no idea what God had in store for him. Not a clue. Trust me. I know him very very well. He’s clueless. And as he looks back over his life, he gets blown away by how that life has unfolded.
And as for you? Well, God has loved you into existence. You are God’s precious son, God’s precious daughter, and God cherishes you. You are God’s immeasurable gift to our world and our lives. And like those women at the tomb, and the young man in the Cathedral. God has a dream for each one of you.
And our risen Lord be always be at your side as you live out God’s dream in your life.
Jesus Christ is Risen .. He is risen indeed! Alleluia !
[homily for Easter Vigil, 2019]