Come ... all who labour

Homily for the Mass of Resurrection: Art Gauthier

Yesterday afternoon, the world watched with increasing excitement as white smoke billowed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in Rome.  A short while later, Cardinal Tauran stood atop the central balcony of Saint Peter’s to announce to the world the famous words: Habamus Papam!We have a Pope!  In the history of Conclaves, there is always surprise when the newly-chosen Holy Father is named, and there is great joy and celebration when he stands on the balcony to address the crowds below.

This morning, only hours after that news of great joy was announced to all the world, we find ourselves gathered here to celebrate the Mass of Resurrection for our beloved brother Art.  The Church uses the term Mass of Resurrection because we believe that as we stand here in this church, praying with human words and gestures, there is a parallel reality going on in our midst.  We are here today to commend Art into the loving arms of our God.  We are here to witness in faith the great joy and celebration with which he is welcomed into his heavenly home.

The celebrations in Rome yesterday were the culmination of a process which began almost a month ago.  Despite all the questioning and guessing that might have gone on, in the end it was the Holy Spirit acting through the Cardinals who has proven to us once again that God is truly at work in His Church.  We are willing participants but at times it seems as though we are spectators, witnessing the unfolding of God’s tender love for his people.

In a sense, you might say that every act of faith is like this too.  We stand here today, witnessing the unfolding of God’s tender love for us and in a particular way for his servant Art.  In this life, he did his best to live as a faithful disciple.  He shared his joys, his sorrows, his challenges and his triumphs, but most of all his faith with you Eliette, with your children, with your extended family and with your friends.  Now as we stand at the threshold of heaven, we celebrate the fact that Art is now made whole again, that he is brimming over with joy in the presence of our God, and that he is reunited with those of his loved ones who have gone before him to their eternal reward.

On the day of his baptism, Art began to live the life of faith that has led him to this day.  Living such a life means that we must recognize every day the truth that we must die to ourselves and live for Christ.  If in union with Christ, we have imitated his death by giving of ourselves out of love while on this earth, then we have the assurance that we shall also imitate him in his resurrection.  Now that Art is united with God in heaven, he understands this promise as he never has before, and he watches over us, even as we come to this place to pray for him.  Our faith teaches us that our souls are always in the hands of God, and that no torment will ever touch them.  Even if we might experience punishment here on earth, no earthly challenge can ever take away the gift of hope with which we have been blessed since the day of our baptism.  Hope is the gift that helps us to look beyond our weaknesses.  Hope is the gift that helps us to endure and to continue moving forward one day at a time.  Hope is the virtue that allows us to believe even when success and joy might seem to be hidden from our eyes.

Dear friends, at the banquet table of heaven, around which we gather today, we listen with the ears of faith for the voice of Jesus who calls to us with the wisdom of one who has witnessed the gift of faith at work in our hearts.  This faith, and the hope it bears are often hidden from the eyes of the learned and the clever of this world, but they are revealed to those who may consider themselves powerless by human standards.  Because Art believed in the power of these gifts, he knelt in prayer to thank God, he lived life to the full, never allowing the challenges of this world to hold him back.  Now he hears the words of our God, words that we too hear today with the ear of faith: come to me, all you who labour and are over-burdened, and I will give you rest.