HOLY SATURDAY
15 APRIL 2017
In 1833, a
young, homesick English priest finally got a chance to return home after
convulsing in Sicily. As soon as he
recovered, he jumped on the first boat and headed north. While on his way, he wrote a poem about his
feelings at the time, “Lead Kindly Light.”
This priest was John Henry Newman, who eventually became a Cardinal and
now beatified on his way to becoming a saint.
His poem was intensely popular to the people of his day:
Lead,
Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,
Lead
Thou me on!
The night
is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead
Thou me on!
At some
level in our lives, especially when things go badly, this is our feeling. Saint Augustine observed that, “Our hearts
are restless until they rest in God.”
Tonight, we gathered in darkness that spoke of the darkness of the tomb
of Jesus Christ. We blessed the fire and
the Easter Candle and lit it, coming into a darkened church to hear the proclamation
that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. In keeping vigil and hearing the Word of God,
telling us of the many ways God has led people along in their encircling gloom. We have heard the fulfillment of all those
actions when Saint Matthew describes the brilliant light of the resurrection:
“his appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.”
There are
11 children, teens, and adults who have recognized this light of Christ shining
in the gloom of their lives. Like the
Israelites who passed through the waters of the Red Sea, they are ready to pass
through the waters of Baptism to be freed from their sins and share the light
of the risen Christ and become one with his Church.
We’ve heard enough words. Stephen, get the candle. Servers, light your tapers from the Easter
Candle. It is time to see what becoming one
with Christ looks like. Everyone, pick up your candles. As we light our
candles, we pray for these good people who are convinced that the risen Christ
is the only true light in a world with lots of garish lights that can never
satisfy.
Newman completes
his poem with these words:
The night
is gone,
And
with the morn those angel faces smile!
That is
where we are in celebrating the Sacraments of Initiation. Happy Easter!
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