Let’s Keep Jesus in Easter

Happy Holy Thursday! We did it, we survived forty days of fasting (almost)!  Today we begin the triduum (the summit of the liturgical year) with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper where the ritual of washing of the feet takes place and then the Blessed Sacrament is taken to the altar of repose where the faithful can visit until midnight.  A friend introduced me to the Seven Church Visitations and tonight will be my third year participating in this tradition.  I have recruited most of the teachers that I work with in RCIA and tonight five of us will be traveling together to keep Jesus company: “this Holy Thursday seven church journey remembers Jesus’ going from one judge to another to be unjustly condemned.  The pilgrimage of the faithful in this night seeks to accompany Jesus and to give him comfort instead of the condemnation and abandonment he suffered.”  I have found that embarking on this journey nourishes me spiritually.  In the silence of the night I am alone in the presence of Jesus and he speaks to the inner most part of my being there I find rest and hope.  Going from church to church in Orange County also means that I get to worship with my brothers from different cultures and I see a church united under God.  It’s not too late to draw up your map and embark on this journey of love.

On Good Friday, I request the day off from work because a family member has died and I want to mourn Jesus’ passing by reflecting on the hopeful meaning of his passion and death.  Mass is not celebrated instead we have a service where the faithful typically venerate the cross.  It’s such a beautiful service, where the community (one by one) goes up to a simple wooden cross and adores it by touching or kissing it.  I find this ritual a little uncomfortable because I am performing such an intimate action (kissing the cross) very publically.  It’s a very vulnerable moment to declare through actions our love for Jesus.  On Good Friday, at some parishes we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus through the reenactment of a live Via Crucis (Way of the Cross).  This is very typical in Latin American Countries.  Usually we take our RCIA students and pray the Way of the Cross at sunset at the beach.  It’s one of the best moments of our program, to be out in nature, guitar in hand singing and praying the Stations of the Cross.

My nephew picked this ceramic egg for me- too cute!

On Holy Saturday no masses are offered during the day, but at night we all unite in one of the most special nights of the year, the Easter Vigil.  At Saint Barbara Parish we begin our Vigil at eleven at night and conclude three hours later, so it’s a long service.  We go from darkness into light, from death to the triumphant resurrection and then our students celebrate their Sacraments.  It’s such a hopeful, promising night- we have the promise of savation!  Jesus has opened the door of life everlasting – the path to God!  Glory to God in the highest!  This brings us to Easter Sunday the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Oh happy day! 

Easter basket & toys ready for my boys!

Let’s keep Jesus in Easter.  As with many holidays in America, Easter has also suffered commercialization, bunnies and eggs dominate the festivity doing a great job at blocking the real meaning of the season.  There’s nothing wrong with the Easter bunny or egg hunts, but we must remember that Easter celebrates something bigger than spring.  Easter is about remembering Jesus, what He did for us on the cross and rejoicing on death overcome.  It’s about change - of nailing our sins on the cross and continuing our conversion.  It’s about giving glory to the One that loves us so much that He died to redeem us and bring us back to Him.  So before we partake in secular traditions let’s celebrate the reason for Easter, our Lord, the King of Kings - the Christ.     

"He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen..."