A Message from the Pastor…………………….
I Told You so—I don’t get to say that very often. My watch says that on the day I write this, there are 12 hours and 33 minutes of daylight. This is up about an hour and a half from when Lent began. I wrote here earlier that Easter’s date is set by the full moon after today’s Spring Equinox, when the earth in our hemisphere is tilted most directly to the sun. Life is indeed popping out all around us.
So can we be. This is the week of all weeks, to join Jesus in the pattern of his suffering, death and resurrection; this is the spirit of the whole week ahead of us. Whether you’ve had a good Lent, or feel like the season has passed you by this year, this week is your week—our week– to focus on, and walk with Jesus in, his death and resurrection. Today we enter Holy Week and the Sacred Easter Triduum, the Three Days.
We are joyfully returning as a congregation to be in church. It’s wisdom of the church, I guess, that these are not Holy Days of Obligation (except for Easter Sunday). There is no other time to experience the church’s life and beliefs so directly. Thursday in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Christ shows the spirit of love and service by the washing of feet. On Good Friday, we humbly receive the gift of his life. Saturday at the Easter Vigil, we “pull out all stops” to celebrate in light, in word, in life-giving baptismal water, and food, the presence of the Risen Christ. We will renew our Baptism, especially by baptizing Dennis Tahirovic; and we will receive baptized Christiane Bruce Mardis and Megan Farley. Each of the services is about
an hour to an hour and a half. We must join Jesus closely somehow these days. Participating in these services is the prime way. Children especially enjoy the Triduum (three day) services, because symbols are used that are not our usual routine. Certainly for Easter, and one or more of these services, unless you have a condition or concern that would typically keep you from attending Mass, don’t let “livestreaming” suffice (the dispensation from attending Mass in person has been revoked for all who are able anyway). And f you can’t be with us for these services, find some way to unite with Jesus in his passage.
As I hinted last week, I’m already in the mode of an annual Paschal Retreat. To experience the depth of these rich days, and especially to share The Word with you in preaching four days in a row, Fr. Tim and I will not be doing “business as usual” this week. Please hold off what can wait till Easter Tuesday. Please support us and our other ministers and staff in this, and join us in these services if possible. We’ll see what new spirit we have as we resume “usual business” in the long season after Easter.
Fr. Sebastian