Homily 2^nd Sunday of Easter

11 April 2021 SVP

The first reading today is from the Acts of the Apostles, a book that gives an account of the very first years of the life of the church after Christ’s death and resurrection and his return to the Father.

The image it gives of the church is astounding. It tells us how the first disciples lived in the very early days. They were totally given to their new life in the Gospel. Their unity was extraordinary and they cared for each other as would any members of the same family. Those who had property or riches sold what they had and gave the proceeds to the Apostles for distribution to the poor. Later on in the book, we learn how they cared for the sick and saw to it that they were not left alone. Another great concern was to ensure that as many people as possible would hear of their Lord and Saviour; of teachings and his way of life. The best way to do this was to live like he did: caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, making a place for the homeless, visiting the imprisoned. This was the best way to evangelise – to imitate God’s love and the life of Jesus.

This was hugely important to them. They would say that you cannot be a disciple of Jesus by your prayer and your word of faith alone. They fully expected that a new disciple’s faith would lead them into a new way of life, in which they would regard every other human being as a brother or sister. St. James, one of their leaders, used to say: "Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions."

Indeed, we all know the parable of the last judgement, taught by Jesus, which we find in chapter 25 of Matthew gospel. In it, Jesus says, God will say to those who have died, “Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stranger and you gave me hospitality, naked and you put clothes on me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me”.

Faith is a gift of God to each one of us. Just as faith leads us into a new relationship with God, it also leads us into a new relationship with all of God’s creation; with other humans and with all nature in which we live. Caring for others and caring for creation are an essential consequence of our faith in a loving God, as revealed by Jesus Christ. This is what the radically new way of life of those early Christians witnessed to.

Matthew lists the common sufferings of his time. He speaks of the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned. These social evils are still with us and are even exacerbated by our urban society. Thanks to modern communications, we are more and more aware of other evils around us. We are more aware now of the oppression of women in society, of their exploitation by powerful men. We are more aware of modern slavery and trafficking of vulnerable people. It is more subtle and hidden than in the past but we all profit from it. We are more aware of the racism that might even be hidden in our own hearts and our own attitudes towards others who are not of the same background as ourselves; of what harm this causes to many people. We are painfully aware of the sexual abuse of those who cannot defend themselves, children and vulnerable people, by those in a position of power. Even during this Covid pandemic, we have become more aware of our relationship with the rest of God’s creation and how we must change our way of life to re-establish a more balanced relationship with nature and with the earth’s resources. Like the first Christians, our faith leads us to re-examine our lives and to change so as to become more Christ-like.

It is this awareness, that leads some of us to begin in the parish a new group. In the church this kind of group is called a Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Group.

Our purpose is to raise our own awareness and that of the parish community of the challenges of the gospel in relation to the way we relate with our fellow men and women and with creation. It is also to act where we can.

There are other such groups in our neighbouring parishes, already active. So, not to double up on their efforts, we have chosen three particular areas of concern on which we will concentrate our efforts. These are:

• Climate Change
• Racial and Religious Equality
• Exploitation of developing Countries by the powerful countries, especially in Africa.

The choice of our first project is a sequel, if you like, of our CAFOD Lenten Campaign in which many of us became more conscious of the reality of life of billions of people across the world; the lack of clean and abundant water. We are not going to look for money. We think we have already done very well as a parish in this regard. But we will try to find out more about this serious problem and bring you the results of our research in the weeks to come.

If anyone wishes to join us, you are more than welcome. Just contact me or one of the people on the screen and let us know.