AHHHH! 3 hours?

Save me Lord… Mark’s Contribution to the Pastors Corner, ICC May 1, 2011

In the wake of last weekend’s Easter Triduum liturgies that culminated with the Easter Vigil I would like to share with you what these
Easter Celebrations mean to me, especially for those who struggle with the long Masses and the seemingly excessive liturgies in this
time. I personally love the Easter Triduum celebrations, but it was not always so.

For most of us just the thought of a Mass that will last more than three hours is more than enough to keep us away. I am sure that’s
what went through many a mind in our Parishes as we contemplated the challenge of our Pastors to come as a family to all the
Easter Triduum Celebrations, which included the Easter Vigil. I too was once one of those who could not quite see the point of
dragging a Mass out for three or more hours when I knew it can be done economically in three quarters of an hour until I had the
opportunity to learn the whys and intricacies of what it all means. Now I am a true convert, moving completely in the opposite
direction and have become a strong advocate, for this is one celebration that we should never miss to celebrate in full, bar some
major family emergency.

So what changed in me? Well several years ago I met a wonderful missionary priest who had a deep love for liturgy and over time
he shared with me the deep meaning of the many parts of the Easter Triduum, especially the Easter Vigil Liturgy. As he did this, it
was like the eyes of the blind were being opened. My heart warmed with the love of God poured out for me in those beautiful
liturgies which we celebrate each year during those most Holy of Nights.

When Israel celebrated Passover, the children ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” and the father of the
household answers their questions with four retellings of the story of the Lord’s Passover. We too can ask that same question “Why
are these liturgies so different from all other liturgies and the answer would be, because on this night we celebrate the fulfillment of
the Passover, the passage through death to life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who conquered death, by death, and won for each one of us
the victory of life, life in abundance. He is alive! He is alive! That is our victory shout. Proclaim it we must, and proclaim it we do
because on that night Jesus shows us that death could not hold him, he is the Lord over all. This is what we celebrate in the Easter
Triduum.

Allow me to share with you just a few key things from the Easter Vigil this most unusual of Masses that has four Liturgies all rolled
into one, the Liturgy of Light, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of Initiation, finishing with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We begin
outside the church gathered around a fire on this night. Fire is a powerful symbol for us, it consumes and it transforms. The Holy
Spirit is often portrait as fire for this very reason. This large fire is blessed and from this fire the Easter Candle is lit. The Easter
Candle is the Symbol of the Risen Christ, his light lighting up the darkness. Once lit the Pascal Candle is brought into a completely
dark Church and its rays illumine the darkness of our Church again a powerful symbol of Christ piercing the darkness. As our small
candles are lit, each new flame slowly fills the church with a soft warm glow reminding us that when we allow the light of Christ to
penetrate out hearts we to in turn, can light up this world, as we bring Jesus to the world. As the Pascal Candle is enthroned the
Exultant is sung, an ancient song of Easter joy which welcomes in this Easter Season so jubilantly. As this first liturgy ends and our
small candles are extinguished we ask can again why is this night different, why do we proclaim 7 Old Testament readings, why is the
liturgy of the Word so long? In this special liturgy of the Word we hear salvation history proclaimed, each reading recounting the
promises of God to send forth a redeemer, this promise finally fulfilled in Christ. I love to listen to those readings especially now as I
understand what they are telling. We have seven readings, because seven is a holy number. Seven symbolizes wholeness; the story
of salvation is whole and complete. Each reading is capped with a Psalm that reflects back the general sense of the reading and
these proclamations of God’s promise are culminated in the Gloria, the song of praise of God’s holy people. As this is sung with
gusto, the bells ring out and the Church is lit as a sign that God’s Word lights up our lives and this world that we live in. The third
liturgy that is worthy of mention is the Liturgy of Initiation. This important part of this Mass gives grounds why we the community
need to be present for this Mass, so that as a community we welcome the elect into our community, the body of Christ. This part of
the Mass not only witnesses and celebrates their new birth in Baptism but is also for us to personally renew our own Baptismal
Promises, in this sense of recommitting our lives to Christ in a public testimony of faith. How special that moment is, how important
this opportunity is for us all. As the Celebrant leads us in this rite and sprinkles us with Holy Water we are re-membered (that is we
become one again) with our Baptism, Wow! These are just a few highlights of a Mass, deeply rich in symbols that when understood
can open our hearts and lives to God’s transforming action.

How much I have grown to appreciate the sacred liturgies of our Church, they are truly a moment of heaven. As I touch this reality
and meet in them our God, I realize that three hours is o’ too short… If you missed going to the Easter Triduum Celebrations for
whatever reason this year, mark it on your calendars for next year (April 5-7, 2012) because honestly it is too good to miss out on.

Have a blessed Easter