Lighting the Way For the Changes Ahead

April brings us a lot. We change to Daylight Saving Time. We meet our tax deadlines. We finish up Lent with Holy Week and we celebrate Easter. Easter is the greatest high feast of the Church. The season is fifty days long, longer than any other celebration or observance in the Church year. It all begins with the Great Vigil of Easter, my favorite liturgy of the year, and concludes on the Day of Pentecost. The Great Vigil is considered the most appropriate time to celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, and when we don't have baptisms to celebrate we reaffirm our baptismal vows. I would like to hear from anyone considering baptism so we can have that special liturgy as part of our Easter celebration. I would also like to hear from people who are interested in reading lessons or participating in leading the Vigil in other ways.

As we come to the end of our Lenten observance we focus more and more on the cross of Christ. On Passion Sunday we read the Passion Gospel in full detail. The cross of Christ stands at the center of our faith. We discover the power of God in suffering. We live in a world where might makes right and the weak are routinely trodden upon. Jesus on the cross is the victim of the ways of power and might. As we approach Passion Sunday and Holy Week we need to focus on the weak and needy in this world. It is a good time to consider things like the Starfish Project, Valley Churches United and other groups trying to make a difference. It is a good time to look at our own experiences of weakness and victimization and see them through the cross of Jesus.

The Liturgy of the Great Vigil begins with the service of light. We light the Paschal Candle and bring it into the Church reminding ourselves of the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. From the darkness in our lives and in our world we look to the light of Christ. Next we read lessons about ways God has acted to redeem us in the past. We remember the gift of creation and the gift of salvation especially in the Exodus of the Jews. Next we celebrate baptism or renew our baptismal vows reminding ourselves that by the power of the Holy Spirit we have been incorporated into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Finally we announce that Christ has risen and we celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter.

We are people of the cross and resurrection, fed by the Body and Blood of Christ in the Passover meal of the New Covenant. This is our time to enter more fully into the mystery of our faith and to celebrate who we are as the people of God.

In Christ's love,

The Reverend John L. Duncan