Easter Signs : (March 2008)

An early Easter is a time of mixed signs. The signs of spring are there with daffodils and the early leaves appearing on the chestnut and the hawthorn, but they are contradicted by poor cold wet weather.

There are mixed signs in the liturgy too. The Easter Gospels are the stories of the risen Christ and the joy of the Apostles. These are followed in the second week, by descriptions of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. These stories tell how they worshipped and prayed together and shared in the Eucharist. They tell of how their new-found faith in the life of the Risen Christ prompted them to share all their possessions with each other. One of their first administrative decisions was to appoint seven deacons with the specific duty of caring for the needs of the poor.

But all is not joy and light. At the same time this little community is being ever more severely opposed by the authorities. It is a sign of contradiction.

Fr Perry Gildea - Vincentian Fathers

Cliftonville Road, Belfast 15

In all this it is interesting to notice in this period, how Psalm 33 recurs in some daily masses. The response is “The Lord, hears the cry of the poor”. Was this meant as a reassurance for the early community as they began to feel the pressure of persecution for the sake of Jesus? Or was it that they now realised that living as a community shaped by the resurrection they had to hear and be the voice of the poor?

Perhaps it was and is both. In the continuing scale of things the Christian community though spread around the globe is still a minority group. In a variety of ways it will feel the pressure of opposition and so must depend on its life of prayer and community solidarity as its source of strength. It cries on its own behalf to the Risen Lord its source of life.

Monsieur Vincent

Like the early community too, and like Christ himself it must always be aware of the cry of the poor and when necessary be the voice crying out on behalf of the poor.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul with its regular care for the needy in our communities carries on the mission of the first deacons chosen by the Apostles. It is also in a privileged position to hear the cries of the poor. It can then become a voice for the poor.

As such it is heartening to read in the papers how the Society can speak to politicians about the actual effects of budget changes, or the increasingly damaging effects of inflation on the lives of the poor in our society. To work for institutional change is a very significant way of responding to the cry of the poor, or making sure it is heard in other places. As a voice for the poor the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has a special role to play.

The theology of the ‘Poor of Jahweh’, as the poorest of the poor in the Old Testament were called, emphasises the powerlessness of poverty. In all ages and in every country that is a constant. To be poor is to have no power to improve things for yourself. That is why the Christian family and the Society must be a constant voice for the poor. That too is an Easter sign.

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44 & 45)

Fr Perry (March 2008)

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