Carmel attends mass in St. Nicholas of Myra on a daily basis. The fact that she is ninety and just recovered from a fractured hip, is neither here nor there, as afar as she is concerned.

Carmel is full of life. She has a fantastic sense of humour and is almost fanatical about ballroom dancing, which she goes to, twice a week - and not as a spectator. On one occasion, as she got out of the taxi, the driver asked her was she going to bingo. He had noticed her walking stick. "No", she proudly announced, "ballroom dancing". Once she hits the dance floor, the walking stick is no where to be found. After her recent fall she has had to take a little bit easier. However she did recently ask the doctor how soon, she could kneel. In fact what she was really asking was, "how soon can I dance again?"

Carmel sees absolutely no reason why being 90 should get in the way of living life as fully as she wishes to. In that, she is in good company. It was Jesus who said, " I have come that they may have life and have it to the full".

Like most of the other old people, in the parish she views this part of her life as having as much potential, as any other part of her life. And yes, I did use the word "old". If I referred to a young person, nobody would bat an eye lid at the use of the word "young". We grow old. It's a part of life, and if we were less afraid of it, we might face it's challenges and delights with the same enthusiasm, we faced every other stage of our life.

Easter is above all about new life - life sprung from death. Every transition we make in life is a kind of death, which leads to new life. There may be a sadness at leaving one part of our lives for another. But without a willingness to leave, we will never arrive anywhere new.

May the Resurrection of Christ bring light to the darkest corners of our lives. May the Hope of new life give us the courage to transform our world.

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