Alberic Jacovone OSB
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YEAR B
EASTER SUNDAY -16-4-06
Acts 10,34.37-43; Col 3,1-4; Jn,20,1-9
Easter-time: symbols & images
Paschal Mystery:
If the word Christmas derives from
“Christ’s Mass” & refers to Mid-night Mass, resonating the words of
Scripture: “while the midnight silence reigned over all... your almighty Word
came down from...heaven’, the word Easter
is pre-Christian, it comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Eastre, goddess of Spring, resonating a culture, when the beginning
of Spring was celebrated in the northern hemisphere as symbol of new-life. A
truly Christian word for Easter is Pasch,
from the Greek ‘Pascha’, which in turn is a transliteration of the Hebrew Peshac,
meaning Passover. Vatican
Council II, offers us the term ‘Paschal
Mystery’ which covers a full realization of the event of Redemption. If
all ‘Holy Week’ is packed with Christian symbols, so is the ‘Easter
Triduum’ & so is Easter itself: it is celebrated as a night-watch of
prayerful anticipation for our Lord’s Resurrection. Here
the symbol is of ‘light in the night’, a triumph of God’s mercy
& loving goodness over the forces of evil & ignorance, sickness &
slavery. As a night of watching & prayer, Easter is the ‘mother of all
Vigils’ (St. Augustine). In it we highlight the ‘night aspect’ of
Easter, so we may appreciate the triumph of light over darkness. We know
that our Lord’s resurrection took place by night, as did the event of
‘Jewish Peshac in Exodus time’, when God ‘passed over’ the Jewish homes,
& spared them from sorrow. This year, may our
Easter prayer be as follows: Risen Lord, by your cross,
death & Resurrection, raise the broken hearts of those in our family who are
hurting & are no longer able to love each other: may love be restored in
them, by your infinite mercy.
Our Christian Passover. The Jews rightly say that Passover of Exodus marks the time when Israel began to exist as a ‘Nation chosen by God’, We Christians agree with this but then say that Our Lord’s Passover or Paschal Mystery brought God’s plan to its new & ultimate fulfilment. It gave freedom not just from physical slavery & only to one nation, but freedom from slavery of sin, evil & death, & to all people of all races & nations, who united with our Lord are now called to form a New People of God. On Easter Saturday, we spend a night-long vigil of prayer, to praise God’s ‘mighty deeds’ which are shining out even more so than at Exodus time, in the Death & Resurrection of our Saviour. Ours is a New Exodus, for a New People, with a new entry viz. Baptism, a New Fire & New Paschal Candle to shine as the column of fire in Exodus, a New Proclamation that Christ has dispelled the night of death & evil. The new ‘Light of Christ’ marches in procession, followed by the faithful with small lights & a new ‘Rejoice-song’ (exultet jam angelica turba caelorum) to praise the glory of the Risen Lord. At Easter, we are asked to re-live the Pascal Mystery -as one day-, the 50 ‘Alleluia’ days from Passover to Pentecost, which is Easter time, & are called to commemorate it with joy every Sunday, which is par excellence the ‘Dominica’ or day of the Lord. The Easter Proclamation sings praise to the slaying of the true Lamb, who (replacing the lambs of Exodus), is truly our Lamb of God, & has destroyed the darkness of sin & death, restoring in us grace & holiness. May even this Easter, the New light of our Risen Lord continue to dispel evil from our midst, so our nights may mingle with the lights of heaven, & there may be peace. Over the centuries, Easter has given rise to many symbols. We have Easter: eggs & baby-chicks, bunnies & Lambs (Agnus Dei), Easter blessings & water, candles & songs & wishes; even ‘mother bee’ is praised for giving us wax; & the acrostic for ‘fish’ is: ‘J-Chr., God’s Son, Saviour’
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