4th Sunday of Easter 2024
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: April 21, 2024
Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry one. This famous song from the 1970’s provides a great message that links to today’s readings.
When I heard the words and images of the first reading and the psalm “the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone”, I thought about builders and stones, I thought about our new church and the wonderful gothic arches that we see everywhere.
In the windows, the reardos, the ceiling and even some of the doors, we see these beautiful arches that remind us of the European cathedrals and even our own cathedral of Christ the King.
The arch is made to have us look up to it’s peak and further toward heaven, and it is a sign of strength and stability in the form of a triangle. Leonardo da Vinci once said, “an arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.”
In different biblical translations, the word is not cornerstone, but keystone, and that is the stone at the top of the arch, the one that joins both sides.
We can see in this keystone, the piece that ties everything together and makes the whole structure work, the two leaning towers of stone to come together, and create this strong shape. We can project this image of the arch into our spiritual life. We see that though we are weak, if we lean on Christ, or one another person with him as our keystone, then his strength and like St. Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit” we can endure and even thrive in the spiritual and our daily lives.
In the psalm we hear these beautiful words, for us to “take refuge in the Lord”, or put another way, to lean on him, when we are not strong. We know that he will carry our burdens for us, making our journey easier by knowing that we are not alone.
We need to think of ourselves as part of the arch, stones inside the column leaning not only on Christ but on each other.
In the first letter of Peter, he says, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house”. We are all intimate members of the house of God, we are children of God!
An arch is made up of many stones, a stone doesn’t sit in mid-air all alone, but touches and supports others and this is what we are called to do! The Christian life is not one of a monk in the desert, but it is one of engagement in the world each day. At school, at work, at the grocery store, the hospital, we are called to lean in and help one another as we are supported by the keystone himself.
How do we help others…like the good shepherd! We as Christians, are called to help others, to hold up their leaning towers that may be sagging by the weight of what they carry, not because we are paid to do it, not as an option, but because we are helping a brother or sister in Christ, or even a stranger as the Good Samaritan did.
We are called to lay down our life for those who come into our lives, by sacrificing our self focus to become servants.
I am inspired by our parishioners because I have seen you lean in and help a family member or friend with cancer, at their bedside as they go through treatments. When I see a spouse push the wheelchair of their husband/wife around the neighborhood to let them see the sun, smell the roses, hear the dogs barking and continue to be engaged with the world.
You help each other when someone is grieving after losing a loved one, sharing tears of sadness and stories of joy about their lives. You find ways to chip in and help the poor in our parish by supporting St. Vincent de Paul and other ministries. And you pray for others, sometimes at home alone, but God hears those prayers, and acts in our community’s lives. I see you lean in on each other, and it supports, encourages and inspires my own faith journey.
So, this week, when you are feeling you need support, you are weary and burdened; or you see a neighbour, co-worker, or friend who is worn out…look at an arch and say: “lean on me”.
