A Homily for the Fourth Sunday after Easter

​+ The liturgical season of Easter—“Eastertide”—is long. It goes on and on. And even when it is finally finished it never really quite goes away, lingering as it does with the constant use of that peculiarly Christian use of the Hebrew word “Alleluia” (except when, in order to underline and emphasise its importance, we temporarily bury it from Septuagesima until Easter day).
 
Indeed, to be Christian is nothing other than to live each and every moment of our lives in the unique and definitively revelatory light of Easter morning. It is, no matter what circumstances confront us, no matter how badly we ourselves fall and sin, no matter whom or what persecutes or oppresses us, to know (and I say “to know” rather than “to feel,” or “to hope” in the sense of a mere wish) that by His bodily resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ has shown Himself to be the definitive revelation of God in human history, and that by living in fidelity to His teaching, faithfully transmitted in Tradition by the One, True Church He Himself founded, we too shall share in that life which mere bodily death cannot take away.
 
Indeed, by the grace of Holy Baptism we already share in that life, of which we have a sublime foretaste in this world in the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, and which is made ever stronger in us through the grace of God the Holy Spirit— towards the coming of which the Church looks expectantly in the Holy Gospel of this Mass—Who is given to us in the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are already immersed in that life which was revealed on Easter morning. Even though we must currently live “inter mundanas varietates” (amidst the changes of this world) as the Collect of this Mass so subtly puts it, our hearts are to be fixed “ubi vera sunt gaudia” (where true joy is to be found): in the resurrected Christ, who is the (not “a”) Way, Truth and Life. (cf. Jn. 14:6)
 
Pope John Paul II expressed this reality quite beautifully: “We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through His own pain to the glory of the Resurrection. And we live in the light of His Paschal Mystery - the mystery of His Death and Resurrection. ‘We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!’. We are not looking for a shallow joy but rather a joy that comes from faith, that grows through unselfish love, that respects the ‘fundamental duty of love of neighbour, without which it would be unbecoming to speak of Joy’. We realize that joy is demanding; it demands unselfishness; it demands a readiness to say with Mary: ‘Be it done unto me according to thy word’.” (30 Nov. 1986)
 
Hence, whilst “Alleluia” is always on our lips, and whilst the reality of which it sings should be infused in our blood, animating our hearts and minds and indeed our entire bodies, we know only too well that just as Eastertide is long, so too can be the sufferings and trials that we must endure in this life, be they the fault of our own sins, be they the unwanted cross of serious illness, displacement due to social upheaval and warfare, or the persecutions that arise through the ideological use of power by petty potentates—secular or ecclesiastical. And in such circumstances it is far from easy to sing “Alleluia” or to utter the unselfish fiat of Our Blessed Lady. That which we have celebrated on Easter morning can seem somewhat academic and remote when we are confronted by the severe and at times crucifying mundanas varietates--the dramatically changing circumstances of our lives that challenge and attempt to overturn our deepest convictions and beliefs.
 
Life is not all beauty. The vicissitudes of striving to be faithful to Christ in a secular and increasingly anti-Christian world are real. Even holding fast to traditional Catholic worship, faith and morals seems unwelcome in a purportedly ‘inclusive’ synodal Church. And we are weak: we fall into sin and seem to make little progress in growth in virtue. It can seem as if the Risen Christ has indeed gone away and left us orphaned.
 
Yet this is precisely why the Church continually sings “Alleluia”. Because none of these sufferings, not even the worst of persecutions or moral falls, changes the objective reality of the resurrection. Nothing at all can separate us from its power and its victory over sin and death (cf. Rom 8:38) if we persevere unto the end (cf. Mt 12:14) in fidelity to Christ. And if we do fall under the weight of the attacks that seek to oppress us and rob us of the life that Christ’s victory has won, we have only to repent and to turn anew to Him in the Sacrament of Confession to be restored to His life and grace, and for “Alleluia” again to resound in the depths of our hearts, minds and souls.
 
My brothers and sisters, Eastertide is long—life-long!—and the changing circumstances of this life are as unpredictable as they are assured. And yet both are transformed by the reality of Christ’s resurrection from the dead and the life He thereby won for us—that very life which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we celebrate and receive anew from His altar in this Holy Mass. Let us never cease so to do, for it is in so doing week after week and day after day amidst the changing circumstances of this word that we shall find our salvation. +