Easter Sunday Of The Resurrection Of The Lord
Dear Parishioner,
“O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human.”
These are some of the celebratory words that we sing on this weekend, words from the Exultet that is sung in the darkened church after the Easter candle is carried in at the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Every person who is baptized carries in their candle. All these candles are lit from the Easter candle. The church glows bright in the soft yellow light. Darkness and light are primary Christians symbols.
Before we come to proclaim our faith in Christ it is said that we walk in darkness. What is that darkness like? We lack direction. We do not know how to live in a moral way, according to Jesus’ way. Before we come to faith, it is hard to be motivated by Jesus’ law of love which transforms our whole interaction with others. We also do not realize where our ultimate destination is. It is to live together with Jesus in heaven.
Once we are enlightened by Jesus we realize that we need not fear. The worries of this world are only temporary. Our eternal home lies somewhere else. We will live in unending light. What a contrast between darkness and light! What a difference between ignorance and faith!
I wish all of you a Happy Easter, especially those who have received the Easter sacraments and all those that will be Baptized this Easter weekend. We have quite a group of new members joining us. This is something to rejoice in. The names of the adults who will be coming into the church were listed in our last Heartbeat Newsletter. Please congratulate them when you seem them. Let them know that Sacred Heart is glad to have them join our community. Their joy is our joy.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
P.S. I would like to thank all of those who helped with the liturgies of Easter Triduum. I especially thank our liturgical ministers, our art and environment committee that decorated the church and the musicians who were under the direction of Suzie Budde and Cheryl Bolt.