Christ is risen, Alleluia!
Dear Redeemer Family:
The fifty days of Easter (yes, the Season of Easter runs for fifty days, not just the Day of the Resurrection) are an abundance of feasting, joy, and passionate immersion into the new creation revealed in the death and resurrection of Christ. As Sunday is to the week, the Season of Easter is to the year. Easter is a week of weeks, seven times seven, our rejoicing multiplied over and entire season. It is rather easy to let Easter Sunday be a climax followed by weeks of letdown. Yet each Sunday of Easter is part of a great festival season in which the festal character, décor, and energy of the resurrection is sustained and celebrated. Our worship spaces overflow with abundant water, flowers, music, and of course praise to the risen Christ!
One image of the fifty days is that of an extended feast marked by standing. In the early Church, fasting and kneeling were forbidden during the Easter Season, in stark contrast to the traditional disciplines of Lent. For a generation the canticle “This is the feast” has formed in us a eucharistic (that means “thanksgiving,” and refers to the Lord’s Supper) posture of celebration. When Holy Communion is an integral part of each Lord’s day, a strong connection becomes evident between eucharist and the “Emmaus road experience” of the risen Christ appearing to the disciples in the word and in the breaking of the bread. The resurrection happens for us as we gather in assembly: our hearts burn within us as the scriptures are proclaimed, and the risen Lord appears to us as we share the bread and cup of the great and promised feast.
The fifty days of Easter are like a honeymoon in which we bask in the paradise of the new creation. Other images in the gospels also break open for us the paschal mystery. The risen Christ will not be kept behind locked doors but is present in all times and places. We see signs of resurrection in the wounds of the Crucified One even as we behold new life arising out of the brokenness of our world. The Good Shepherd is the one who lays down his life for the flock. Christ is the vine in whom we, the branches, find sustenance to bear fruit for the world.
The paschal candle burns throughout the fifty days as a sign of Jesus’ resurrection and his presence among us. That same candle will burn for baptisms and funerals throughout the year, inviting us to make the connection that we are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection and that our baptism is not complete until our death.
The paschal cycle begins with the ashes of Ash Wednesday, and ends with fire from the flaming tongues of the Day of Pentecost. The assembly is changed by its participation in this great mystery. Our passion is stirred and we are sent forth with a Gospel of abundant proportions. Christ is risen and all creation is made new!
HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!