Opportunity for renewal      

                          
 Last Friday, April 4^th, was the 45^th Anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King. It seemed to go by unnoticed. Yet I am old enough to remember the shock of that news, coming as it did after his Mountain Top speech the night before. The final paragraph was indeed prophetic.

“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't really matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live  a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

That year was daunting. Earlier, at the end of January, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam became a turning point in that hideous war. Following the murder of Dr King at the beginning of April, early in June, Robert Kennedy who had walked behind the cart carrying Dr King to his burial, was shot dead in LA. In August the Prague Spring came to a violent end with the invasion of Russian troops and in December, Thomas Merton died, twenty seven years to the day after he had entered Gethsemani. A truly shocking year. It was Merton who wrote in his journal towards the end of January 68 that  “It is already a hard year and I don’t know what else is coming, but I have a feeling its going to be hard all the way and for everybody ”  Later , on April 6^th , he wrote  “And it (MLK death) finally confirmed all the apprehensions-the feeling that 1968 is a beast of a year”   

Yet at the end of it, during Christmas time,  came Apollo Eight, the first circumnavigation of the Moon by men from Earth. For those who heard it, who can forget the reading from Genesis relayed back to Earth from the desolation of space only a few miles above the scarred surface of the Moon?

We experience many different emotions during the course of our short lives, some joyous, others painful. Recently I have used the word ‘exhilaration’ to describe these early days of Francis, for the Church seems to be emerging from a dark night. There is opportunity for renewal, for the Second Council of the Vatican to be a continued pulse in our lives, a chance to continue our pilgrim journey in faith.

Just as we trust the actions of Francis will sustain the Church, so must we sustain each other in these days of the Risen Lord.