Keep the party rollin'...it's still Easter!

So, it's still the Easter Season...don't slack off on rejoicing in the Resurrection!

Here's a post I wrote for the Domini Sumus blog over at St. Pius X Catholic High School.  

The parish church in Diriamba, Nicaragua.  I was there with a mission group from the high school.

One of the myriad reasons I love being Catholic is that we really know how to party. 

G.K. Chesterton once quipped that “In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe, and the cross can all fit together.”  We love life as we strive to live love. 

Think about it.  We created St. Paddy’s Day, Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day to name a few.  Top that off with the fact that monks in monasteries are to thank for most of the exceptional potent potables that are enjoyed by responsible adults (Belgian Trappist monks in particular, see above).

Yet out of all the celebrations throughout the Catholic year, there is no greater party than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  The Lord’s victory over sin and death is so foundationally important to our faith that St. Paul minces no words when he tells the Corinthians that “if Jesus did not rise from the dead, your faith is pointless” (1 Cor 15:17).

 The joy and glory of Easter can hardly be contained in one 24-hour period, so the Church decided early on that it would celebrate Easter Sunday for a solid week.  The musically inclined among our readers will comprehend why we call such a celebration an “octave”. 

While Easter Sunday is celebrated over 8 Masses, the Easter Season grants the party even more longevity; just as were bid to take on penances for 40 days prior to Easter, the whole Church rejoices and celebrates for the 50 days after Easter leading to Pentecost.

The most recognizable symbols of our celebration are found in the liturgy, in the Mass.

·         You’ll find that the altar is bedecked with white everything: white cloths, white chalice veils, white stoles and chasubles for the priest and white dalmatics for the deacons.
·         You’ll notice the Easter Candle taking pride of place in the sanctuary and staying lit for all liturgies, reminding us that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.
·         You’ll hear exclaimed over and over again the joyous word “Alleluia!” which literally means “Praise God!”  We fasted from it for 40 days, now we cry it out more and more because Jesus Christ has saved us from our sin.
·         You’ll experience the stories of the growth of the nascent Church as the first reading will always be proclaimed from the Acts of the Apostles.  The Gospels focus on the Sacraments, particularly Jesus’ own teachings on Baptism and Eucharist.

The climax of the celebration will be our celebration of Pentecost.  Just as the Lord walked the earth for some time after the Resurrection, confirming the Apostles in their faith before ascending back to the right hand of the Father and sending the promised gift of the Spirit, the Easter Season, too, prepares us to receive a special dose of the Holy Ghost.

Pentecost celebrates that day when the power of God in the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles in the upper room, giving them wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety, and awe in the presence of the Lord.  It was the moment when a bunch of cowardly lions were transformed into the most powerful band of brothers the world has ever seen; men convicted of the love they received from God to the point that they would die rather than betray him.  At Pentecost, they received the strength they needed to be fearless witnesses of Jesus Christ, to preach his message of salvation through the forgiveness of sins, to show us the very heart of God. 

The Church exists today because of these two great moments in history: the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead and sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

There is indeed cause for rejoicing here! 

The Risen Lord is still at work in his Church and in his world through the continuous outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  With every Sacrament celebrated, the Kingdom of God furthers, the message of Jesus Christ gains more traction in our hearts.  The Lord tells us that when one sinner returns, a party is thrown in Heaven (Luke 15:7).  The Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible continually speaks of Heaven as an eternal wedding banquet. 

Let’s get this party started.