Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Things I love about Easter Mass:
-Shoulder to shoulder seating. Hearing the Usher announce "could you please scoot in to the middle of your pew so we can make room for everyone?" This morning I finally met the neighbor to the left of me even though I've seen this family at the 9am Mass since we've been going to this church. When you are shoulder to shoulder it's only natural to introduce yourself! Matt met the lovely couple next to him as well.
-Easter Finery! I love seeing all of the little girls in their pretty little Easter dresses and all of the little boys decked out in suits and bow ties. I love seeing color-coordinated families in pretty pastel shades. Matt and I color-coordinated pink outfits although he will tell you that men don't wear outfits. His neighbor to the left of him gushed over how nice he looked in his new clothes, black sport coat, grey pin-striped dress shirt and pink tie. I think I saw my husband preen.
-Alleluia! Don't you just miss the Alleluia during Lent? I love that we get to put Alleluia all over the Mass on Easter Sunday.
-The Sequence that is sung right after the first reading and before the Gospel Acclamation. This morning, we all sang the Sequence in English. As I was singing I thought about an Easter Mass we went to four years ago and we listened to a new lady in the choir singing in the Latin. It was so beautiful and so pure and so operatic. Katie leaned over to me and said "I want to sing like that." I told her she should ask the lady if she gives voice lessons. After Mass, Katie hightailed it over to meet this lady and that meeting changed the course of Katie's life and after high school choices.
-Renewing our Baptismal vows as a community. On Easter Sunday instead of reciting the Nicene Creed together we get to respond to our priest asking the creed "Do you believe in God the Father?" "We do". And then the priests will walk around and sprinkle the assembly with Holy Water as a symbol of the renewal of our Baptismal promises. But today was a first for Matt and I and a delightful surprise. At the end of the baptismal promises Father Gregory said "Well, since everyone said We do ..." with what I could only describe as an air of mischievousness about him. The lady next to me leaned over and asked "were you here for Easter last year? He uses a Swiffer type thing for the water". And then Father and the Deacon started up and down the aisles sprinkling the assembly with these extra large, Swiffer-duster-looking Aspergillums. However, it was not a sprinkling but a dousing, a soaking if you will. Those brushes reached far into the pews and everyone was doused with Holy Water several times. Every one around us had large droplets of water on their clothes and I had to wipe off my glasses. And since Mass was especially crowded today, it took awhile for Father to reach the whole community. He even went into the cry room and doused those families as well! And the whole entire parish was giggling and laughing and joyful. Our priest delights and surprises us on a regular basis and this morning the only word I can think of for this whole experience was "Joy". I told Matt that I felt like I had truly renewed my baptismal promises today!
-Easter Season! Easter isn't over today! It's an entire season and lasts fifty days until Pentecost Sunday. I love that during the Easter liturgical season we get to listen to a New Testament reading and a reading from the Acts of the Apostles as well as a Gospel reading. And we also get to keep singing the Alleluia all through Mass. Keep doing Easter things, my friends!
I hope that you had a joyful Easter Sunday. I hope you remember your baptismal promises today and everyday. God's many blessings to you over the Easter season.
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
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