“And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.” Genesis 2:2
So ends the first reading of the Easter Vigil. Have you ever thought about why we call it the Easter Triduum when there are four days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? The reason is that the days are figured by Jewish standards. The Jewish day begins at sundown. By this calculation, the Last Supper, trial, and Crucifixion all happened on the same day—the first day of the Triduum. Then came a day of rest, because it was the Jewish Sabbath—the day God rested from all the work he had done in Genesis AND, within the Triduum, the day God rested from all the work he had done through the earthly life of Jesus.
This Triduum Sabbath lasted from sunset of the time we call Good Friday to sunset of the time we call Holy Saturday. It is why we do not start the Easter vigil until after sunset on Saturday.
On retreat, I am writing this in the early morning of this second day. Last night we had a liturgy borrowed from our Orthodox brothers and sisters. It was a memorial liturgy of laying Jesus in the tomb. As we did it, my thoughts moved to recalling that, in the beginning, God rested from the work he had begun. In Genesis, after God rested, the story of God’s revelation to us people began with the story of Adam and Eve, temptation, and sin—all centering on a tree.
Now, as we celebrate Easter, on this NEW DAY, “the day the Lord has made,” (as we sing in the psalm refrain), the price of the sin from the first tree has been paid as God Himself experiences and OVERCOMES the power of the effects of sin and evil, the power of death. Easter Sunday is the third day of the Triduum and the FIRST DAY of the rest of the history of the world.
This Sunday is the highest feast day of the church year, the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. What begins with the Easter Vigil continues all day with several Gospel readings matched to the time of day: John 20:1-9, Luke 24:1-12 in the morning, or for afternoon or evening mass, Luke 24:13-35.
Running with a Flicker of Light (John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:1-12)
Both John and Luke conclude their story of Good Friday with the women watching the burial of Jesus. While Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had wrapped the body with burial cloths and spices, they wanted to do one final act of love. So, as dawn broke, Mary Magdalene (or Mary Magdalene and other women) went to the tomb.
The Magdalene came with a plan…but what did she do when she discovered the stone was rolled away?
According to John, she didn’t pause to even look inside the tomb. She RAN to tell Peter and the other disciples, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don not know where they have laid him.”
Then, Peter and John RAN to the tomb. John ran faster, but stopped at the entrance. Peter, the impetuous leader, went inside. The tomb was empty. The burial cloths were left—neatly folded.
This early morning description ends with “Then the other disciple, the one who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”
Luke tells of two angels who ask the women, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you…he must be crucified, and on the third day rise.” Mary Magdalene and the other women respond by “remembering Jesus words” and telling their story to the other disciples.
Yet both John and Luke let us know that these disciples had only a flicker of light. Understanding was just beginning to dawn. The evangelists continue the story by saying “but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” or “Then the disciples went back to their homes.”
You could say that these disciples were running around in the dark. They did not yet understand the Resurrection was not symbol. It was real.
The Value of a Flicker of Light in the Dark
I am on retreat at St. Meinrad. Like Mary Magdalene, I had a plan. I was going to pray and pray and pray. I was going to immerse myself in the Triduum Mysteries. I have….to the extent that I have fully attended the conferences and with heart, mind, and soul participated in the liturgies.
But I have also spent a lot of time in conversations. Brother Zachary said it well. “The Triduum at St. Meinrad is an experience of the Canterbury Tales.” What he meant was there are a lot of people here, we all have needs and stories, and we share them. Those of us staying here this week, on retreat or as other visitors–we have become a temporary community, just like the characters in Canterbury Tales. We are on a journey to find God; as we travel we are finding God in each other as well as in the liturgies.
There is just as much depth and Holy Spirit in the many conversations of these five days as there is depth and Holy Spirit in the exquisite liturgies. Whether the conversation words are with God or others doesn’t make a difference. God is speaking to me. I try to listen with the “ear of my heart.”
Like the Magdalene, I’m surprised. And, like the Magdalene, I’m adjusting. But, like the Magdalene, writing this on Saturday morning, the complete dawn of what God is doing is not fully clear. The retreat isn’t over yet.
Luke 24:13-35 The Emmaus Journey
Those who attend mass later in the day on Easter may get the Gospel story of two disciples who heard what the Magdalene and the other women said, but who could not make sense of it. They decided to leave Jerusalem. Jesus, risen, but not fully recognizable, catches up to them along the way. He uses the Hebrew Scriptures to help them understand what has happened. Finally, they recognize it is Jesus. They quickly returned to Jerusalem. “Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
It’s a NEW LIFE (Acts 10: 34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; I Corinthians 5:6-8)
The first reading through the Easter season will come from Acts. This selection is part of Peter’s preaching to Cornelius and his household. It is a brief summary of the Kerygma, the Good News of Jesus Christ and what the events of the Triduum mean: God has conquered sin and death and invites us to live a Resurrected Life.
The brief readings from Colossians and I Corinthians give us a serious message: “If then you are raised with Christ, seek what is above…Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lamp…let us celebrate the festival with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
A New Window on the Tree of Life
The picture today is a window in the St. Meinrad Archabbey Church. In the bottom panel you see the tree in the Garden of Eden. But that tree extends up to become the Cross. This is its message of Easter: “Because by your cross AND RESURRECTION you have redeemed the world.”
That is the FULL LIGHT of Easter Day and our lives.
Easter blessings!
Prayer:
The prayer today is the beautiful Easter Sequence said or sung at all Easter masses:
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.
