That glorious acclamation is written on greeting cards and parish bulletins. It is proclaimed in song and spoken with awe and gratitude. At the Easter Vigil celebration, it breaks into the silence and subdued lighting as the newly blessed Easter Candle is revealed and enthroned. Christ, in this blessed candle, will preside over the celebrations within the setting of our church this year. As we reverence it with incense, it is Christ Risen whom we greet, whom we honor, and to whom we present ourselves in all our need and with all our hope.
Among the reasons for gratitude this year is the fact that we are able to gather! While we still face official guidelines arising from public health concerns and our numbers will be low for the same concerns, we are here! And we sense movement in the right direction regarding being able to protect ourselves and each other, returning to a greater day of freedom in our movements and gatherings as family, as Church, and as community!
The First of the Solemn Intercessions on Good Friday prayed that the Church would be able to lead our life in tranquility and quiet, that we might glorify God. Our Easter Proclamation shouts to us, to each other, and to the world that we have been heard! The dying and rising of Christ is the Truth against which no evil, no shadow, not even death can prevail!
A truly Blessed Easter to you!
Fr. Tom