Readings: Isaiah 43: 1-4; Psalm 23; John 20: 11-18

1. Though I stand here, I am really there, one among you.

• For, like you, I have lost a sister, beloved friend and someone who is almost a family member
  
• May our beloved Sr. (Pat) Cecilia Crittenden rest in a peace that the world cannot give
  
• Enriched by her life – may we not linger too long in our grief but, instead, learn from her faith, hope and charity
  
• This would be her greatest wish for us and for this day
  

2. As I begin, let me appeal – somewhat inappropriately – for your sympathies for me.

• I have the formidable task of saying something of comfort, hope and, perhaps, a snippet of holy wisdom on the occasion of Sr. Cecilia Crittenden’s passing to new life.
  
• My difficulty is that for years upon years, I have had two Dominican sisters in my family and life: Sr. Cecilia and Sr. Mary Headley
  
• They both learned very early that the “OP” after their names means “Order of Preachers”
  
• Being serious women, not prone to bite their tongues, they have taken this OP attribution most seriously, preaching and teaching with considerable regularity
  
• Know, too, that whenever we would gather – which was often enough – we would celebrate liturgy
  
• On those occasions, during shared homilies, the “two sisters” were seldom lost for words
  
• Pity my state this morning: called upon to preach, all ALONE
  

3. I have two consolations

• Sr. Catherine Welsh, a bona fide and articulate member of the Order of Preachers herself, will have the last word
  
• And, Cecilia has, herself, chosen the readings we have just heard
  
• Let us look at what she has chosen, trying to see what life lessons she might have intended for us in choosing them
  

4. First, let us set the stage: The Johannine gospel chosen for today has Mary, this special woman, being the first person to see the risen Lord Jesus

• His male disciples, Johnny-come-latelys, were allowed only to see the body wrappings and to puzzle – unbelievingly – for a time
  
• But, Mary has the indescribable privilege of seeing Him first
  
• In reflecting on the story in light of Cecilia’s life, I offer three lessons:
  

• One is about grief
  
• The second about search and discovery
  
• And, third, getting on with the Kingdom
  

A. Grief

5. Let us not pretend

• The journey of these last 7 months was difficult for Cecilia: It was filled with weeping and tears
  
• More, perhaps, than she could have anticipated in choosing this reading starting with a weeping woman
  
• She did not like to see pain in others or experience it herself
  

6. Cecilia was a woman who appreciated bedrock of CST: Like human dignity

• She was dignified in her person
  
• And, her self-presentation
  
• She cared about what she wore, how she looked and the beauty of her human surroundings
  

• If you had heard about the Cecilia-like discussion of matching ear rings, dress and coffin as I did,
  
• You might have, as I did say, “Just like Cecilia”
  
• But, she was equally concerned about the care, treatment and dignity of others
  
• The ill
  
• Poor
  
• And, outcast and marginalized as, for example, the AIDS patients she nursed or the poor of Belize
  

7. She knew you loved her

• She knew of your prayers, good wishes and, yes, tears for her
  
• One of the great pains of her life at the end was that she could not write and tell you how much she appreciated your concern…
  
• As she had so often with such insight, thoughtfulness and tenderness in her notes
  

8. And, the gospel insight?

It is what happened when the angel saw all those tears

• The question was typically angelic
  
• “Angel questions” always suggest that the mere human being is totally out of touch with what is really going on
  
• But, then, that often happened in the scriptures
  

• Mary, the other Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was first told of Jesus’ coming…she needed a little time to get it right.
  
• Surely, we hear about the “Fiat” all the time, and understandably so
  
• What about the prior, “How on God’s good earth did this happen to me”
  

9. So, too, Mary-by-the-grave-side of this evening’s gospel: “Woman, why are you weeping?”

• Did you get the emotional thrust: For her and us?
  
• It is something like
  

• “What possible reason could there be for tears of sorrow?”
  
• Jesus is risen!
  
• The world is redeemed!
  
• The only tears that make sense are those of joy!
  

B. Let me make a second point about Cecilia suggested by this evening’s gospel story: The Journey of Discovery

10. Mary of the gospel couldn’t put it together right away

• Nor, can we when first faced with grief, suffering and death
  
• Two weeks ago, I stood on a quiet hilltop in Rwanda, Central Africa – ill-famed for its genocide of nearly 1 million people -- and tried to grasp what it meant 12 years ago for 50,000 people to be killed in that gentle spot
  
• Here, in this gospel, it is the empty tomb, discarded clothing and even the angels that were hard to grasp
  
• Mary’s recognition gets no better when Jesus arrives; she does not recognize him at once…she has to journey some and do a lot of listening
  
• Her logic, though, is impeccable
  

• She’s in a garden
  
• He must be the gardener!
  

11. When they meet, Jesus repeats the angel’s question: “Why are you crying?”

• And adds significantly, “Who are you looking for?”
  
• In preparation for this homily, I listened to the language you who know Cecilia used in describing her
  
• Heard two poignant words: “journey and discovery”: I translate this into the second lesson of the readings…and Cecilia’s life
  
• She was a women on a quest, engaged in a journey of discovery
  

12. A wise person once said that there are two kinds of people in life

• Those who have one experience, and live it dully, over and over again
  
• And, those for whom every day is an adventure, quest and search
  
• Sr. Cecilia clearly fell into the second grouping
  

13. Life and ministry were for her a journey of trying to answer Jesus’ question: “Who are you looking for” with a pointed, clear declarative sentence: “For you, my Jesus, who else?”

14. Ministry was a journey of discovery for her

• Journey from home and loving family – so amply represented here
  
• Journey to the Hawthorne Dominicans
  
• Then, Dominicans of the Sick Poor
  
• Next, Dominicans of Hope
  
• Then, in July, at the Assembly of the Dominican Sisters of Hope, Sister noted with pleasure the continued discussion of the collaboration among the Dominican NE 6 communities
  

15. Hers’ was a journey of discovery: In personal capacity for compassion, in the spirit of Jesus

• Striking in the gospel story: Mary, as Cecilia might have, led with her heart: Offered to carry the body back to the tomb
  

  For Cecilia, it was the cancer-ridden and AIDS afflicted bodies of the hundreds and thousands of patients
  

  Or, the fail and ill bodies of senior sister in Ossining
  

  Or, those bodies encountered in the full circle her ministry has taken since she first came in 1982 to Dominican Sisters Family Health Care
  

• A journey from bedside cancer service, through AIDS ministry to Community leadership
  
• Journey that lead her to a powerful sense of the feminine contribution to Church and society: Manifested in her gentle but firm insistence on inclusive language, being indigent over female mutilation and outraged about human trafficking
  

16. Her life was a journey of discovery, not only outwardly toward others but inward to the core of her own spirituality

• Nurtured by
  
• Avid reading
  
• Daily Eucharist
  
• Recent sabbatical
  
• Meditation
  
• Beauty in nature
  
• And, expressed and shared through poetry
  

17. Here is how she summed this Journey of Discovery in her poem entitled, simply, “Discovery”

C. And, a third lesson: getting on with the Kingdom!

• In the gospel story, Mary finally gets it
  
• She hears Jesus’ voice and seemingly rushes to embrace him
  
• I’m not going to pretend to be into the fine points of exegesis
  

• But, scripture scholars seem to agree that the Lord did not say to Mary, “Do not touch me.”
  
• It was more like, “Do not hold on to me.”
  

18. I really think the story ended something like this

• Jesus, almost playfully, tells her that she need not try to hold on to Him
  
• He is not going yet
  
• I hear his words spoken with a smile as Mary excitedly hugged Him
  
• There is a note of deep satisfaction in His voice as he says to her,
  
• “Go back and tell the brothers (and sisters)….”
  
• To get on with it…this building of the Kingdom that I have come to start…and need them to continue
  
• To make their own contribution to a better world…to the building of the Kingdom
  
• In my spirit
  
• And, Mary did go back…as Cecilia does… not physically any more
  
• That happy reunion will have to wait until our own last days
  
• But, with words which ring of poetry and the authenticity of a life well-lived
  

19. There is a footnote here and a final revelation about Cecilia

• Except for a scribe’s error of a single letter, that quotes at the end of this evening gospel might not have been “Do not hold on to me” but rather, “Do not be afraid.”
  
• Got me thinking that, in certain respects, Cecilia thought of herself as a scaredy-cat…as we said as kids growing up in Philly
  
• It would be just like her, then, to end on a reassuring note for us
  
• Because, she would have wanted it for herself
  
• Did you not see it – the signature expression of hope -- in the first reading?
  
• “ I, the Lord, created you
  
• And, formed you
  
• Israel – not only Israel, but Pat, family, sisters, friends all – don’t be afraid
  
• I have rescued you
  
• I called you by name
  
• Now, you belong to me
  
• When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you
  
• When you walk through fire, you won’t be burned.
  
• …To me, you are very dear, and I love you.”
  

20. Grieve not Cecilia: Beloved family, fellow sisters and friends

• Rather, journey and search on as she did in faith, charity and hope
  
• Do as Sr. (Pat) Cecilia Crittenden did: help build the Kingdom of justice and peace
  
• That’s what Mary by the graveside ran to tell the disciples
  
• That’s what Cecilia’s life was
  
• That is what she, this very special woman of hope, would ask of you
  

Homily by Bill Headley, CSSp