Fr. Chris - Holy Vigil / Easter Sunday - Homily

“Remember To Seek The Light”
Through the unfolding of our sacred celebration of the Triduum we have recognized it can be considered as a time of ‘remembrance’, our response to Christ’s call to “Do this in remembrance of me”.
 
On Holy Thursday, we remembered Christ’s call to us to be of service to each other as he demonstrated by gently washing the feet of his beloved apostles.
 
On Good Friday, we remembered Christ’s call to us to make sacrifices to God and for each other as he gave up his own life for us in the ultimate sacrifice of all time.
 
Now, with Christ’s coming Resurrection, we remember his call to us to seek his light, to follow and bring his light into our lives! We remember his ‘Light’.
 
Where would we be without ‘light’? We used to honour the light in a very practical way, rising for and retiring from our day’s labours according to the coming and going of the light of day. When we are lost in the darkness of night we are grateful for moonbeams or even the gathered light of humble fireflies to find our way home.
 
It is interesting that we have never measured ‘darkness’. It seems perhaps we are too fearful or too resistant to measuring the darkness, something considered maybe too negative in our lives. It seems only light interests us enough to measure it, as in the calculation of the speed of ‘light’, more breathtaking than the speed of ‘sound’.   
 
Light has profound attributes. Light, itself, always finds its way in the darkness we resist measuring. It makes itself known through the smallest gaps of our window blinds or the tiniest holes in our canvas tents. Light warms our bodies while it leads our eyes to where our hearts compel us to go. If the tiniest pinpoint of light in the night sky can dazzle us with such awe, imagine the power of the ‘Light of Christ’.
 
Helen Keller knew the importance of light, especially Christ’s light, because his light came from within, a light she could see without sight, feeling its spiritual warmth penetrate her whole being. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or heard or touched – they must be felt with [the light] of the heart.”
 
Helen had actually been born with sight and hearing, but after an illness, perhaps Scarlet Fever, she lost them. Yet with love and guidance from her teacher, Anne Sullivan, a specialist in sensory disabilities, Helen learned to read and communicate with sign language, braille, even how to type. She called Anne a ‘miracle worker’!  
 
She would visit 35 countries, was elected as the first USA Goodwill Ambassador to Japan, and helped institute the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union which championed the rights of the disabled and disadvantaged. “Keep your face to the sunshine,” she’d say, “and you will never see the shadow.”
 
Her faith was paramount in her life. She prayed that when she died she would be reunited with her teacher, companion, and friend of 49 years, Anne Sullivan. “I look forward to the day when God brings me home to where I can finally see her face.”
  
Helen will be remembered forever as a powerful, iconic figure of strength, courage, and determination against diversity, all because she learned one word: ‘water!’
 
Indeed, is it not significant the first word she learned was ‘water’, because water is the foundation of life. This miraculous element which flows through creation,  making all life possible, is also the life source of our sacred ritual of ‘Baptism’.
 
Remembering the power of the Light of Christ, and refreshed by the remembrance of our blessing with his holy water, let us remember and renew our baptismal vows.    
 
– Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario ​