Monday of Easter Week

April 21, 2003

Christians with rare exceptions acknowledge the celebration to the birth of Jesus on the same date each year. It is anchored to a fixed date, December 25, even though there is no genuine historical evidence for this date. It is rather associated with the beginning of the winter solstice and the growth of daylight, the days start getting longer and brighter.

By Ash Wednesday and certainly by Easter, we have noticed considerable lengthening and enlightenment. For this reason the Church has built the season of journeying toward and through faith, which we find in the blossoms of Baptism. The dates for these celebrations are not fixed to a certain date, but because of their intrinsic correlation to the Jewish Passover; follow the example of using the first full moon of spring as the determining factor.

This year, Easter being almost at the latest possible date, we find ourselves in the new life of spring nearly or fully blossomed. Over the years this spring time festival came to be called Pasch or the paschal season.

It commemorates the pasch of Israel ; a liberation festival. The people of Israel stream forth from slavery through the sea to a new land flowing with milk and honey.

The pasch of Jesus is a redemption festival. Jesus emerges victorious from the slavery of death and the grave, to a place of honor at the father’s right hand.

The pasch of the catechumens is a regeneration festival, in which the newly baptized and/or initiated enter into the mysteries of Christ death and resurrection, and pass through the saving waters of Baptism to celebrate their new home in the church.

The pasch of penitents and faithful is a reconciliation festival where, by the light of the Easter candle and the water of the font where the new brothers and sisters have been baptized, we renew our own baptismal covenant in word and sacrament.

Even in a parish without neophytes, this is a week for rejoicing. The octave is perfect for gathering those involved in the planning and celebration of the liturgies of Lent and the Tridium to sit down with coffee and to swap stories and constructively critique the experiences, making notes for next year.

From every perspective the Pasch is indeed about springtime, growth and new life.