Over the past couple of years, I've gone to Daily Mass more often at St. Leonard's Church in Berwyn. On Holy Monday, the priest there, Father Bobby, gave a super insightful presentation about Holy Week and the Triduum, offering further information to build on a similar presentation the year before. I discovered this year's presentation on YouTube and played it later when I had the time. One major idea that stood out to me was that as Catholics, we hold to the idea that in our liturgy gatherings, including the Mass, we aren't simply remembering what Jesus did for us in His work of salvation: We are making it present again, and Jesus Christ continues to offer us His graces. (Father Bobby used a word, and I'm uncertain how to spell it, but I think it's something like amenisis.)
Indeed, Christ continually has something to offer us when we commemorate the central events of our salvation in the Triduum.
It's the culmination point of Lent. I read somewhere a person reflecting on how he went to Mass with his family and on Laetare Sunday, the priest remarked they had reached the midpoint of Lent. His young daughter said, "We're only halfway through?" This writer reflected on how Lent has a 40-day period because God has so much to offer us. He desires to renew us so we are open to all that He has for us to experience in the Triduum.
Every Sunday is a special day to celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead, a Little Easter. One week before Resurrection Sunday, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion had a triumphal feel as we began Mass, as is typical, heralding Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. One line from the prayers at the opening of Mass got my attention: As we herald anew Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, we renew our hope to one day enter the Heavenly Jerusalem with Him. After the Passion Narrative, Father Carl offered good thoughts in his homily. He posed the question of whether we follow Jesus when it's popular, or stay the course even in difficult times. We're reminded to be grounded in Christ our Savior.
Concurrent with Holy Week this year was the Jewish celebration of Passover, which has so many elements that speak to the Paschal Mystery, and so much of it fittingly comes alive on Maundy Thursday. Once again, Mass started with a triumphant tone with the opening hymn "We Should Glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ". He is the reason we live with great purpose and mission because of the work He accomplished on the Cross.
Indeed, He offered the sacrifice of Himself as the perfect Passover Lamb of God, offering His Body and Blood. In so doing, He sends us forth to live out His command to love one another, just like we hear at the end of Mass.
At the end of the Mass, the hymn "Pange Lingua" was so moving and mystical as the Eucharist was solemnly processed through the church to the side altar. The mystical mood continued in the dimmed light of the church while I lingered to pray before the Blessed Sacrament as a way to keep watch with Christ.
The next day, Cross Friday, I departed work early and drove 7 minutes to Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Elmhurst for 3 PM Stations of the Cross. It was fitting to mark this holy hour by recounting Jesus's Passion in this long-held form of prayer. There's so much to meditate upon as we recount the different stations in Jesus's way to His death on the Cross.
Later, at the Liturgy at Ascension Church, after hearing the Passion Narrative in the Gospel according to St. John, we venerated the Cross. This day offers us a meaningful opportunity to behold this important symbol of our faith. As scandalous as it was in its original context, we recognize God's power was at work in the Cross, and continues to be at work. So we join our sufferings to Christ and venerate His Holy Cross.
The next morning on Holy Saturday, I went to Morning Prayer at St. Edmund, where we prayed for those preparing to receive the initiation sacraments that night. There's a hymn sung customarily on Holy Saturday morning that speaks to how we are waiting for the great victory Christ brings when He rises from the dead.
I spent the next few hours doing various things to make ready for the great celebration. Per an idea I got from Catholic Vote's lifestyle guide, I bought some fresh-cut flowers to add a touch of Easter celebration. I also helped with some decorations at Ascension.
Shortly before 7 PM, I was at St. Giles for the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil Mass. So much of our liturgical experience focuses on natural elements, and it was fitting to walk past a bonfire outside the main entrance of the church. We then gathered around that fire to light the Paschal Candle. It's a powerful symbol to see the light of the Paschal Candle, along with all the other smaller candles lit from it in the darkened church as we turn our attention toward the victory of Christ we celebrate on this night. The Exultet sets the tone so well for the celebration at hand, from the first words of "Exult, let them exult". It's not a word we use typically, yet it is so eloquent in lifting us up to the new reality we enter in the Resurrection of Christ. There's another phrase that stood out to me, "Be glad, let Earth be glad". We can be glad in a profound way because of the work God has done to save us.
Then we hear a series of readings that show how God has been at work throughout history to save us. Little by little, His purposes have been unfolding. Just as Lent was a 40-day period in which God has been at work in us, so we see that salvation history has been a process in which God has worked in His own timing. Then, the reading from Romans 6 is a great explanation for how what we celebrate is not just rejoicing in what happened to Jesus, but to be open to how it transforms us, too, so that we may walk in newness of Life.
That passage provides a great backdrop as we joyfully reach the Gospel proclamation, singing an extended Alleluia to proclaim the marvelous deeds God has done, which is crowned by the Resurrection of Christ, because, again, His Resurrection transforms us gloriously.
Father Carl emphasized it well in his homily when he said that because He lives, we carry His Spirit with us, and he even had us repeat that phrase aloud for emphasis.
To celebrate how God is alive among us, it was very special that soon after the homily came the Baptisms of three youths, followed by their Confirmations and the Confirmations of two others. The joyful spirit persisted into the Liturgy of the Eucharist and then the gathering of food and drink afterwards.
The next morning felt so alive, as is typical for Easter/Resurrection Sunday. The physical space and its decorations inside Ascension Church set the tone so well as the sanctuary filled, nearly bursting at the seams with those gathered for this glorious celebration. I was glad to see so many students I know from my many years of teaching Religious Education. Part of the Mass included the renewal of baptismal vows and then sprinkling with holy water. As I mentioned to my students in RE class, all of Lent was focused on growing in our relationship with God so we could renew our baptismal vows on Easter/Resurrection Sunday with great fervor. As an added touch, it was raining at the end of Mass to emphasize the newness of life that water brings to the Earth, just as baptism brings new life to the faithful. There was exuberant music throughout Mass that set the tone so well for this glorious occasion. And in teh spirit of the Colossians 3 passage of the 2nd reading, it was a time to lift ourselves up and focus our gaze on what is of Heaven.
Later that day, as I drove to my Uncle Bernie's place for our family meal, I played selections from The Messiah as a way to enter into the joyful celebration of Christ's Resurrection. The oratorio is based on Scripture, and there's not necessarily a specific selection from the Gospel narratives of the Resurrection accounts. However, there are several verses from 1 Corinthians 15, in which St. Paul writes about the Resurrection and what it means for us who confess faith in Christ, which I see as an example of making the Resurrection present to us, and furthermore, a reality in us.
The joyful mood shifted to a sobering reality the next morning. I awoke, and upon checking my e-mail inbox, saw the news about the passing of Pope Francis. It was sorrowful, yet spoke to what we celebrated the day before as we acknowledge Christ has provided a way for us to experience Eternal Life after death, and how Pope Francis had entered into that life beyond this life just a day after celebrating the Resurrection, when he movingly made the effort to appear to the crowds in St. Peter's Square and offer his blessing.
Then, on May 8, it was so powerful to hear the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV speak the words of the Risen Christ in his first remarks to the world.
Indeed, the Resurrection is an awesome reality that continues to be present to us. We are invited to present to the Risen Christ as He manifests Himself so we can be transformed and that the Resurrection and its joy can dwell deep within us that we may live anew.
Throughout the days of the Easter Season, I've enjoyed focusing in a new way on the many wonderful Easter hymns. While Christmastime is known for its many carols, this year, I've come to marvel at Easter hymns, and I realize how many wonderful statements set to music are included in these hymns. They spoke to the marvelous song that all the Earth sings because we are renewed by the reality of the Resurrection. Like Pope St. John Paul II said, we the faithful, while acknowledging difficult realities in the world, are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song. We sing it ceaselly in our hearts and by our lives as we testify to how the Resurrection has transformed us and is in us.
Alleluia!
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| At Ascension Church, the lighted Paschal Candle is flanked by flowers that add to the sense of triumph on Easter/Resurrection Sunday. |
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| The altar at St. Giles is flanked with flowers and other symbols to illustrate the sense of triumph we had just celebrated at the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil Mass. |
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| At St. Leonard Church in Berwyn, the Paschal Candle is adorned with a white cloth, and along with the flowers, evokes a sense of exultation and triumph in the Easter Season celebration of the Resurrection. |
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