Keep Calm and Carry On.
Homily by Father Cameron Forbes
We see this phrase on coffee mugs, tea towels, t-shirts and fridge magnets.
But actually, the expression comes from a motivational poster designed to keep the British public calm in World War Two as they faced massive air raids. More than two million copies were printed, yet the poster fell into obscurity until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at a bookshop in an English country town. The poster encourages a stoic attitude – one of self-discipline, of fortitude and an abiding sense of calm in the face of adversity.
But more relevant for us today that the poster itself is what it actually represents – the message that we must remain calm in a crisis. Could we have imagined even one month ago that our supermarket shelves would be empty – of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, rice and pasta? And that many major events would be cancelled, including the Grand Prix? Could we have imagined that St Francis Church would now be indefinitely closed, or that public gatherings of more than 500 people should no longer proceed?
These strategies are all sensible, and dare I say, necessary. They are designed not only to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus but also to keep a sense of public calm. They are designed to ensure public safety and to combat fear.
Of course, fear and worry are perhaps the least productive and useful of all human emotions. They offer nothing and they consume everything. Fear, we could really say, is taking concern for the future, and letting it inhibit our lives in the present. And Jesus has very clearly told us not to do this. He tells us to be not afraid. He asks us to let tomorrow take care of itself. He doesn’t tell us not to take sensible precautions, but in his own way he does tell us to keep calm and carry on. Because, for Christians, each moment of our lives is a moment with God. And so we each need to be present to the sacrament of the present moment, to our relationship with God during every moment of the day. God is here and now, truly present to us. Nothing could be more important.
Jesus tells us to ‘be not afraid’. Fear is not a Christian emotion. And yet the greatest fear today is perhaps that of the unknown. We see this today in the Samaritan woman, or the woman at the well, as she is known. Her encounter with Jesus too centres around the fear of the unknown. But for her, fear of the unknown is not disease or sickness. For her, the unknown is Jesus.
At the well, Jesus suddenly becomes the unknown quantity in the woman’s life. But why have they both come there in the first place? Both Jesus and the woman are thirsty. Jesus, as St Augustine tells us, “thirsted for the faith of that woman”, as he thirsts for the faith of us all. What stands out in their encounter is the symbol of water, representing the Sacrament of Baptism, itself the source of new life that lasts forever. This is the water which represents the Holy Spirit, that greatest of gifts which Jesus came to bring on the part of God the Father. Those reborn by water and by the Holy Spirit, by Baptism, truly are able to worship God in “spirit and truth”.
Like the Samaritan woman, we sometimes seek our water from wells which do not quench our thirst. We forget the true water, and go after wells where the water is not really able to satisfy. In seeking the infinite, we instead go after the finite, which must be consumed again and again and again, and never with good or lasting results.
But in Jesus Christ the Samaritan woman finds her true living water. She finds the water she has always sought. She runs to the village and announces she has found the Messiah, the one who has changed her life. As Pope Francis says, “every encounter with Jesus changes our lives, always. It is a step forward, a step closer to God. And thus every encounter with Jesus changes our life. It is always, always this way.”
Each of us here today can identify with the Samaritan woman. Jesus is always awaiting us, and most especially in this season of Lent. It is Jesus who gives us everything and asks us to give everything in return.
Mother Teresa, St Teresa of Kolkata, was able to express this with complete clarity, as was her gift. “Why should we give ourselves completely to God?” she asks. “Because God has given Himself to us. If God who owes us nothing is ready to give us nothing less than Himself, can we respond with only a small part of ourselves? Giving ourselves totally to God is a way of receiving God. I am for God and God is for me. I live for God and renounce myself, in this way I allow God to live for me. To possess God, we must allow Him to possess our souls.”