“We will miss him”
2nd Sunday of Easter C
Ballymore
27 April 2025
My friends,
Gathering this weekend after the week we’ve experienced with the death of Pope Francis, we’re like a family returning home after the funeral of a dearly loved father or uncle. We are a mixture of sadness and gratitude, bereaved yet blessed. There is a vacant chair and an air of vacuum. Like any family pausing after a bereavement there has been much calling to mind, remembering precious moments of grace alongside startling surprise. Francis, we’re all realising was one of a kind. His life was remarkable before he was chosen to be Bishop of Rome. His twelve years are an extraordinary testament to the capacity of older people. He came to the Papacy at 76 years of age – he brought with him a lifetime of priestly fidelity, wisdom and courage. We will miss him.
But what now? We are wondering. It is good to recall that all these recent happenings have taken place in the course of the Easter Season. It, providentially, radiated the Sentiments of joy and hope that news of the Resurrection stirs up in the hearts of Christ’s disciples. That hope is nurtured in our prayer and reflection on the ‘appearances’ recounted in the New Testament texts of the Acts of the Apostles (2nd Reading) and our Gospel Reading from St. John.
From the Acts of Apostles, we sense a vibrant community of faith – whereby the witness of believers was infectious – leading those ‘round them to faith. We’re not surprised because faith is first caught rather than thought – first experienced before we come to understand fully. In this context it is heartening to learn of the huge numbers embracing the Christian faith across the world. Yet we, for so many reasons, seek to jettison our faith education from our schools. But that discussion is for another day.
From now the Universal Church awaits the election of a new Pope. The gospel text today from John’s Gospel has some reassuring messages for the Church at this time of choosing especially for the Cardinals whose responsibility it is.
Like the disciples gathered, we are in a room with closed doors because of fear. The Cardinals will gather too behind closed doors but not in fear rather in a spirit of hope with the knowledge that the Lord’s peace is with them.
“As the Father sent me
So am I sending you”
After saying this he breathed on them and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit”
His encounter with Doubting Thomas led him to declare
“You believe because you can see me
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”
The catholic Church is much criticised for its sin and failure and rightly. Yet the Church is the organisational scaffolding we need to carry on the mission entrusted to all believers. It is built on trust in God and the work of his Holy Spirit within and among us. These coming weeks the Cardinals will prepare to go into Conclave. We pray the guidance of the Holy Spirit on them individually and as a College of Electors.
May their deliberations and discernment bless the Church with a holy, wise and gifted man to Shepherd the flock across the globe.
