Fr Mark’s Homily for Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance is a very important word.
What do we do when we remember?
I ask this because, being the Sunday closest to the 11th November, we celebrate the memories of those who have fallen in war, particularly remembering the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the two great wars of the twentieth century.
The question is particularly urgent, because there is no one left who would have been present to witness the horrors of Marne, of the Somme, Gallipoli, or Ypres, and only a handful remain who could tell us of the Battles of El Alamein, or the Bulge, or Brody, or Britain.
If you look up the key events of these two wars, they are listed as ancient history, and very soon the sights, the sounds, the smells, the gas, the danger, the fear, and the death will be invoked only by words and photographs, and memorabilia.
In Luke’s account of the Crucifixion we encounter the repentant thief: a man, we might assume, whose life had unravelled amid a welter of bad choices, and possibly bad luck, and which brought him to a bad end. Except that his death would be for ever bound up with the Man crucified next to Him, a Man who had done no wrong, and whose death would bring life to the world. The repentant thief’s words ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ help us here.
For what the thief is asking for is not for Jesus to have fond thoughts of this dying stranger, or to picture him in his mind while he enjoys the fruits of the Kingdom which He has entered. No, he is asking for the gifts of a new reality, of being remembered, put back together, of sharing the resurrection life. Jesus doesn’t merely bring the man to mind: he brings him to life.
Remembrance Sunday is about giving thanks for, and crucially, bringing back to the present, the sacrifice and suffering of all those who have died in war: to express our undying gratitude those who gave their todays for our tomorrows. We owe them a debt that we can never repay, but one which we should never forget either. There are lessons to be learned, lessons to retain, and remembrance Sunday is an insurance policy against forgetting that peace is a precious gift. But so is justice. And as we know, true peace can only exist when there is true justice. The sacrifices of the past make moral demands of the present: it makes peace makers of us, but not at any cost, because evil should never be appeased, and must be fought. It makes us vigilant, because we must never be deceived into thinking that that which happened once could never happen again. Today we don’t just look back. Those who have died in war will always be present to us: a constant example of service, sacrifice, duty, and courage; and, yes, pain, fear, and suffering, too.
In November our thoughts always turn to the souls of the faithful departed; not only those whom we love and see no longer, but those who have no one on earth left to pray for them. We plead the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for them. Today we do so specifically for those who have fallen in war.
The Mass is not simply a ritual replaying of an event which took place 2000 years ago. The Mass makes present to us here and now the one True, Eternal Sacrifice of Christ, his Body Broken, His Blood outpoured. Calvary is here, and it is now. It is the Sacrifice which restored the repentant thief and made him a child of God. It is the Sacrifice that sets our feet on the road to Heaven. It is the Sacrifice which helps the Holy Souls inch closer to the true home for which they long: they are remembered, remade, restored.
This spiritual work of mercy that we perform today is our affirmation that the peace of Christ, which passes human understanding will always prevail. Christians are realists: we know that war and its causes aren’t just magicked away by prayer and the sacraments. The TV and newspapers are a constant reminder of people caught up in the crossfire between warring factions. But we do believe that the Prince of Peace will always win in the end. His Kingship which we will celebrate in a couple of weeks is not some nebulous, ethereal concept. He is the King of the world, whether everyone knows it or not, whether they believe it or accept it or not. And it is ultimately through Jesus, the King of our world, that true peace will ultimately be established.
And in the meantime, we give heartfelt thanks for those who made the ultimate sacrifice: they will be remembered, in every possible sense of the word.
8 November 2020
