Homily for the Morning Mass on the Twelfth Sunday of Easter
Readings for Year A: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm 68; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33
Fear of the future. An emotion I’ve been very aware of in these last few weeks. And, as I’ve watched people turn up at the church to pray, I’ve been very aware that, although there’s little opportunity to speak, many will be bearing their own fears. It’s very gratifying to know we can finally open our doors to help people to sit quietly and reflect, to recall, to speak to God, to ask him for comfort and help. I know people who through this time have borne grief, loss, suffering, who remain lonely, who have struggled to live together, who have lost jobs, homes, everything. Who have suffered and continue to suffer trauma and are fearful of the future.
The prophets of Ancient Israel spoke to their people in the midst of great fear too. Jeremiah was one of them; in fact one of the most vocal. We hear him today complaining to the Lord – why has he abandoned him and his people? – why doesn’t he listen when we call upon him? – why are we in such a mess? And yet – and it’s a big yet – Jeremiah continually renews his commitment to be a prophet – to speak the truth, to act with integrity, to not simply keep calm and carry on but to dig deep into the human capacity for hope and faith in a God who cares for his people deeply. He’s telling us not to be afraid because God will lead us to a better place.
Jeremiah seems so long ago, doesn’t he? And yet the Word of God the Church gives us to ponder can be so near to us. It inspires women and men of today in the midst of this era of change, speaking prophetically through their actions alongside people of all faiths and none. I notice an ardent desire in so many for a fairer world where God’s justice is done, where every human being is treated with the dignity they deserve, where poverty and destitution are ended for all, where discrimination is no more, where integrity becomes the new truth and mercy the greatest of virtues. It has struck me greatly that during this long fast from receiving Holy Communion in the Mass God has been present and working deep within many. The desire for touching and tasting the things of God has been greater, the spiritual communion we make and the Masses we celebrate alone have stirred in many a desire to discover him anew and to appreciate the Mass all the more, and with that, as public Eucharist is suspended in our churches the Eucharist is being lived out more in the public square in hospitals, care homes, schools, wherever key workers are, and, as I’ve seen close-up here in London in bringing God’s love for the poorest to the otherwise deserted streets of central London as the homeless are fed and given the dignity they deserve.
“Do not be afraid” says says Jesus to his disciples today. As Jeremiah had said in his time. “Do not be afraid” but act with integrity. That’s at the core of what it is to be Christian, to be fully human. As we hear those words again at this time of great change we do so as we are, bearing all the trauma, all the fear, yet all the hopes for a better world. A world which is searching for a new integrity, a new truth.
If Jeremiah was here today I think he would have much harsher things to say, to challenge us. But one thing above all he would call us back to is unflinching hope in God’s goodness. In the face of adversity Christians and people of faith and good will come together. Again and again God calls us to take time to stop, to listen to what he has to say to us, and to shake us up so we may bring his kingdom more clearly to our world. Whether you pop into a church this week or not – wherever you are – take a little time to hear him speak to you deep in your heart. Allow him to take root in you as you are now. Allow him to show you what he promises for you whom he loves deeply, and to reveal to you new hope, new opportunity, new ways to live the Eucharist in our world. And hear above all those words spoken to the great prophet Jeremiah by our one Lord: “Be not afraid. I go before you always”.
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ