HOMILY: 6th SUNDAY OF EASTER ‘A’ 2017

The General Election is still more than two weeks away.  But I am sure most of us are already feeling punch-drunk with the avalanche of promises and pledges that has been raining down on us on the TV, on the radio, in the papers and through the letter box.  It all adds up only too easily to a serious temptation to cynicism and indifference; a temptation to just opt out.

In circumstances like these, it strikes me how very hard it is for us to cling to the virtue of HOPE!  Yet for us as Christians, HOPE must play a key role in our life.  But this is only possible if we are convinced of the truth, the reality of the one specific hope that is ours as Christians.  Today’s Second Reading makes clear that as Christians, we must be known to be people of HOPE – and that we must be able to say why we are people of HOPE.  As St Peter insists:  ‘Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the HOPE that you all have’.

Of course, the Resurrection of Jesus is the fundamental ground of our hope.  And then next Sunday, our hope will be strengthened even more, as we celebrate the Lord’s Ascension.  This is so, because, at his Ascension – at his Return to the Father’s Glory – Jesus took with him into the very heart and being of God our frail human nature.  So often – and not least when we are in the middle of a General Election Campaign – our view of human nature can get decidedly jaundiced.  But the mystery of the Ascension forbids us to sink into sadness and cynicism about our human condition.

The truth of the Ascension is beautifully expressed in the Ascension Day Hymn, ‘See the Conqueror mounts in triumph’ –

‘Thou hast raised our human nature

In the clouds to God’s right hand;

There we sit in heavenly places,

There with thee in glory stand;

Jesus reigns, adored by angels;

Man with God is on the throne…’

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing – so that we may bring hope to our world.