PASTOR S MEANDERINGS 3 4 APRIL 2015 EASTER SUNDAY

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1 PASTOR S MEANDERINGS 3 4 APRIL 2015 EASTER SUNDAY STEWARDSHIP: Alleluia! Christ is risen and is victorious over sin and death! We are good stewards of our faith if, like St. Paul, we share this good news whenever and wherever we can. J. S. Whale The Gospels do not explain the resurrection; the resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. READINGS SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY) Acts 4:32-35: This is how Luke, writing several generations after the first days of the Christians, imagined that the early believers lived. He wanted to put an ideal picture before his audience to help them recognize that we can only really grasp significance of the resurrection when we attempt to build a new style of community in the world. 1 Jn. 5:1-6: Jesus Christ comes by water and blood, overcomes death, reveals the Father, sends the Spirit. This is a summary of the faith of the baptized person: who enters by water into the life of Christ, passes on His victory over death by a style of life that forgives and makes peace, and comes to rest in the life of God. Faith in the resurrection leads to a new birth. Those who believe form a community of love for God and for each other. Our fidelity to the basic commandment indicates the quality of our commitment. Jn. 20:19-31: Jesus gives the apostles the promised gift of peace. He commissions them to continue and extend His work. He dispels Thomas doubts and stimulates him to profess his faith. Second Vatican Council Ecumenism There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart. For it is newness of attitudes (cf. Eph. 4:23) from self-denial and unstinted love, that yearnings for unity take their rise and grow toward maturity. We should therefore pray to the divine Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble, gentle in the service of others, and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity toward them. NAME of EASTER: In almost every language except English, the name for this annual memorial of the resurrection is some form of the word Passover (for example, Pasch, from the Hebrew Pesach, Passover ). When Christianity arrived in the north countries, its springtime celebration of the resurrection received a new name from the Teutonic people, a name used today by English-speaking people: Easter. At one time it was thought that this name came from an Anglo-Saxon spring goddess, Eostre. This is how Venerable Bede (d. 735) explained it. However, there is doubt that such a goddess ever existed. A better explanation lies in people s misunderstanding of a Latin phrase for Easter Week, week in white vestments or garments of the newly baptized (in albis), thinking it was the plural of alba in the Latin idiom for dawn, the birth of the new spring sun in the east. This was translated in Old High German

2 as eostarun. Regardless of the exact origin of the term, the symbolism remains: Christ is the sun that rises at dawn in the east. EASTER: Do we really know the full background and meaning of Easter and the Easter season? Yes, it is the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. And it is the oldest and most important Christian celebration of the Christian calendar surpassing Christmas in preminence. It is also called Pascha (Gk., Passover ). Since the Council of Nicaea (325) Easter has been celebrated on the Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox (which means it can fall anytime between 22 March and 25 April). Catholics and many Eastern Christians celebrate Easter on different days because each follows a different calendar: the Gregorian in the West, and the Julian in the East. The date of Easter determines the dates of other movable feasts, such as the Ascension and Pentecost, as well as the number of weeks before Lent and after Pentecost. The Easter season begins on Easter Sunday and extends until Pentecost, fifty days later. The first eight days after Easter are known as the Octave of Easter. The paschal candle, which is blessed at the Easter Vigil, is lighted at Mass during the entire Easter season, and the water that is also blessed at the Easter Vigil is used for Baptism throughout the Easter season. The Easter season is also the time for the newly baptized (neophytes) to continue their catechetical formation, known as mystagogia (Gk. mystagogy ). The Jewish Passover represents the fusion of two originally separate festivals: a spring sacrifice of nomadic shepherds (Passover) and a Canaanite agricultural festival (Unleavened Bread), adopted after the Hebrew settlement in Canaan. In the first century, as today, the developed Passover feast remembered Israel s redemption from slavery; rabbinic tradition also saw the feast as one of hope for final redemption. This Passover celebration provided the context for the Last Supper of Jesus with His disciples and the events leading to His Crucifixion and Resurrection. By the second century, the Church began to celebrate a Christian Passover (Pascha), a modulation of Jewish themes. Celebrating in memory and hope a unitive feast of both the Cross and the Resurrection, the Church identified Jesus as the Paschal Lamb of the New Covenant, gave thanks for deliverance from sin and final death, and awaited ultimate redemption. The primitive Pascha was not focused exclusively on the Resurrection, but on the totality of redemption in Christ. There is second-century evidence from Asia Minor, whose churches followed the Johannine chronology celebrating Pascha on 14 Nisan regardless of the day, indicating that the feast primarily celebrated more than the death of Jesus as an isolated moment. Incarnation, Passion, death, Resurrection, and glorification, i.e., the total work of redemption, were celebrated, symbolically epitomized in the Cross as the locus of victory. (To be cont.) EASTER SUNDAY MASS: Easter Sunday did not exist in the early church. What is celebrated today as Easter occurred during the night hours preceding dawn on Sunday, the Easter Vigil. This primary celebration of Easter is emphasized once again today, (following changes the Church s practices in the early 1950 s). the Easter Sunday Mass was introduced when the Easter Vigil was anticipated early on Holy Saturday morning. No special rituals accompany Easter Sunday Mass except those that were re-introduced with great solemnity the night before

3 at the Easter Vigil: joyful resurrection songs (especially the Alleluia), baptisms, renewal of baptismal vows, a sprinkling of the congregation with the new Easter water, and the joyful decorations of Easter lilies / spring flowers/ and banners. Religious traditions associated with Easter are not all Christian in origin, but most have received a Christian interpretation over the centuries. A different mood is evident during this season than that of Christmas. Yet it is just as exciting and joyful partly because of the evidence of spring in parts of the world thawing out from cold winter months, partly because personal resurrections were achieved through Lenten efforts, and partly because the lengthy penitential season of Lent is finally over. EASTER TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS: Many of the Easter customs and traditions of people of foreign lands seem strange to those of us who are not accustomed to them, but to those who grew up with them woven into their daily lives and still remember them and observe them in some degree they are an inherited element in their lives. On Easter morning in France, the people attend church and carefully carry home the candles that have been blessed at the service for Christ s resurrection. Since the candle must last until the next Easter, it is lighted during the year only for special holy days. In Italy on Easter morning, families attend Mass and then return home for a great feast of roasted lamb. For more than a century, a favorite custom for people in Eastern Europe and Central Germany was to pain and decorate Easter eggs with different complex designs. The egg is the symbol of new life, and that is probably why it has come to hold so much significance at the commemoration of the Resurrection. For hundreds of years dyed eggs have been exchanged as a token of peace at Easter. The custom was prevalent among the ancient Hebrews, for the paschal egg held an important place at the festive Seder meal of the Passover. In Greece, Easter is a holiday in praise of the Lord. Families attend a midnight Mass in the churchyard, and after the service, everyone reverently carries a flickering taper home to light an oil lamp in front of a religious picture. In Poland on Easter Day, after the family has attended Mass, the father cuts a colored egg and shares portions with everyone at the table in the same way the oplatky wafer is eaten at the Christmas dinner. In many European countries it was customary for families to bring baskets of food to church early on Easter morning for the preist to bless the food which was then eaten at the Easter meal. This particular custom is still carried on today by many ethnic families in the U.S. Sunrise services at dawn on Easter Day have become an established feature of an American Easter. The practice of an outdoor Easter sunrise service was brought to America by emigrants from Moravia. The first such service reportedly was held in Bethlehem, Pa., in Early on Easter morning, thousands of people throng into the old Moravian Cemetery beyond the Moravian Church to await the dawn of Easter Day. As the sun appears over the surrounding hills, the voices sing Christ is risen! to the accompaniment of trombones. The sunrise service in Lawton, Okla., features the Oklahoma Oberammergau Easter play, which attracts approximately 100,000 spectators annually. The list of beautiful and solemn religious services that are conducted in the great churches and cathedrals throughout the Christian world is too extensive to enumerate here; but, the

4 magnificence of Easter at St. Peter s Cathedral in Rome, or of the pilgrimages to Jer4usalem, the Holy City would top the list. The religious observance of Easter is surely the most significant custom of all, for it commemorates that very first Easter when the angel of the Lord spoke from the empty tomb: He is not here, for He is risen. Divine Mercy Sunday Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated on the Sunday after Easter within the Octave of Easter., observed by Roman Catholic, as well as some Anglicans. It is originally based on the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy that Saint Faustina Kowalska reported as part of her encounter with Jesus, and is associated with special promises from Jesus and indulgences issued by the Church. The feast of Divine Mercy, as recorded in the diary of Saint Faustina, receives from Jesus Himself the biggest promises of Grace related to the Devotion of Divine Mercy. In specific, Jesus states that the soul that goes to Sacramental Confession (the confession may take place some days before), and receives Holy Eucharistic Communion on that day, shall obtain the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment. That means each person would go immediately after death to the heaven, without suffering in purgatory (or hell). Additionally, the Roman Catholic Church grants a plenary indulgence (observing the usual rules) with the recitation of some simple prayers. Devotion to the Divine Mercy Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun reported visions and visitations from Jesus and conversations with Him. He asked her to paint the vision of His Merciful Divinity being poured from His sacred heart and specifically asked for a feast of Divine Mercy to be established on the first Sunday after Easter so mankind would take refuge in Him: I want the image solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. (Jesus' words, Diary 341) Let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. (Diary 848) Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965) "Sunday, April 28, Low Sunday; that is, the Feast of The Divine Mercy, the conclusion of the Jubilee of Redemption. When we went to take part in the celebrations, my heart leapt with joy that the two solemnities were so closely united." (Faustina's words, Diary 420)

5 This Feast emerged from the very depths of My mercy, and it is confirmed in the vast depths of my tender mercies. Every soul believing and trusting in My mercy will obtain it. (Jesus' words, Diary 420) "Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to absolve yourself from it." (Diary 742) In several entries in her diary, Faustina recorded promises of Grace and Mercy associated to the Feast of Divine Mercy on Mercy Sunday. Jesus Stated: Ask of my faithful servant [a priest] that, on this day, he tell the whole world of My great mercy; that whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. (Diary 300) I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. (Diary 699) I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My Mercy. (Diary 1109) On March 23, 1937, Faustina wrote in her diary (Notebook III, item 1044) that she had a vision that the feast of Divine Mercy would be celebrated in her local chapel, and would be attended by large crowds, and that the same celebration would be held in Rome attended by the Pope. She wrote: The crowd was so enormous that the eye could not take it all in. Everyone was participating in the celebrations. Divine Mercy Sunday is also the day after the culmination of the novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Faustina wrote Jesus instructed her that the Feast of Mercy (the Sunday after Easter) be preceded by a Divine Mercy Novena which would begin on Good Friday. The first Mass during which the Divine Mercy image was displayed was on April 28, 1935, the first Sunday after Easter (the Feast of Divine Mercy) and was attended by Sr. Faustina. (Diary of St. Faustina, item 420). April 28, 1935 was also the celebration of the end of the Jubilee of the Redemption by Pope Pius XI. Father Michael Sopocko (Faustina's confessor) celebrated the Mass that Sunday and obtained permission to place the image within the Gate of Dawn church in Vilnius during the Mass. DIVINE MERCY DEVOTIONS AT ST. STEPEHEN, MARTYR PARISH 2:00 P.M. SUNDAY, 12 APRIL 2015.

6 Dear Friends: The Lord is truly risen, alleluia. To him be glory and power for all the ages of eternity, alleluia, alleluia. (Luke 24.34; cf Revelation 1:6) The Lord is truly risen. This is the truth of Easter. This is the truth that we celebrate. This is the truth that we give witness to. This is the truth of Easter. Our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the Cross has risen and is now alive. He rose from the dead and opened for us eternal life with God. In the Gospel, the message of the Angel to the women who went to see the tomb is encouraging: Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him. (Mt ) Like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, this good news should be a cause of great joy for us! This is the truth that we celebrate. Our Lord Jesus Christ is with us and will forever be present in our midst. He is true to his promise. He is alive. He wants to meet us in Galilee. What is the significance of Galilee? It was Jesus home. It was where Jesus followers lived. It was also the place where many significant events took place as Jesus fulfills his mission. Even now, Jesus wants to meet us where we live. He wants to find a dwelling there. He wants to entrust us with a mission of making his presence known and experienced by everyone. This is the truth that we give witness to in our daily lives. We need to tell the world around us, Jesus is risen and he is with us. We need to show the world that we are witnesses to this truth. We are his disciples. We need to be faithful to Jesus who appears to the disciples and assures them: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of age. (Mt ) A witness is someone who testifies to the truth. It is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to give witness to his truth with the way we live our respective lives. May we show to the world around us that we are people who believe and give witness to the resurrection of Jesus, that we are Easter people! Please accept my sincere appreciation for the Easter greetings that you have sent my way as we have exited from Lent into the mystery of the Triduum and this Holy Season. I thank you all for making our Lenten and Easter celebrations prayerful and beautiful. Let us continue to renew our faith in the Risen Lord as we gather daily and weekly to celebrate God s everlasting presence among us in the Eucharist. May you and your families have a blessed and Happy Easter. With my Easter prayers and blessings,