Again tonight, we were asked to contribute one question and one insight from the reading. The instructor had written down, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter on colored post it notes and then asked us to come forward to choose one. We gathered into groups based on what we had chosen and took a few minutes to put our thoughts down on paper.
I was in the group discussing Advent, and we thought it was hard to find one question and one insight based on the readings. Our question was “How do we focus neophytes on the true meaning of Advent?” and our insight was more observation really,” Too much emphasis is put into shopping and not enough time is put towards preparation for Christmas”.
The answer surprised me a bit. Our instructor said that although we could encourage our inquirers to resist the commercialization of Christmas, we would not be able to prevent it entirely. He suggested that we “bring our faith to the mall” and at least be Christian examples while we’re there.
We also discussed the two characters of Advent; 1) that it’s a time of preparation for the first coming of the Son of God, and 2) in it we also look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of time.
The group discussing Easter asked, “Why is the gospel reading from the Gospel of John, most of the time, rather than Luke?” Their insight was that, “During the Easter season readings from the Old Testament are replaced with readings from the Acts of the Apostles”.
The group discussing Lent asked, “What is the Triduum?” Their insight was that although Lent is special because it represents a new beginning, the Triduum of the Lord is the high point of the entire liturgical year. The season of Lent is not exactly 40 days long, and may have 43 or 44 days. It starts on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.
It’s important to realize that the Triduum is a single event that occurs over three days. It doesn’t include Thursday, but instead starts on Thursday evening and ends on Sunday evening. To keep it as one event the environment should progress from beginning to end. We shouldn’t re-configure the environment overnight by treating each day separately.
The Triduum decorations should change slowly over the three days. The gradual changes seen during Triduum help us understand this single event. Every day is part of the whole story: it’s not like on Friday Jesus is dead and on Sunday Jesus is alive.
The people discussing Christmas asked, “Why, shortly after the birth of Jesus do we go straight to His baptism?” There insight was that, “The preparation for coming of the Lord is dependent on baptism”. Our instructor also pointed out that the Liturgical Year this is not a history of Christianity. Christmas is not really a story about the birth of Jesus; it is a story about the incarnation of the Christ.
Those discussing Ordinary Time asked, “How many weeks are in Ordinary Time?” There insight was, “It depends”. Ordinary Time is a period associated with the growth of faith and knowledge. The reality is that the Liturgical Year has soft boundaries which are difficult for some people to accept. For instance, evidently there is no first Sunday of Ordinary Time.
The Liturgical Year began to develop from Middle Eastern culture, but today it has been influenced by cultures from all around the world.
Lent includes a cycle of readings for the scrutiny’s to assist in uncovering what is weak and sinful and strengthening what is good in each of us. The readings for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent come from the Gospel of John. They are the story of the Samaritan Woman, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. Although these readings come from Cycle A they should be read in all Masses if there are elect waiting for Baptism.
Something I had heard but didn’t understand is that we shouldn’t drain the font. Although we too are looking forward to Easter we are still baptized Christians and we remember our baptism. Lent is a reminder of our baptism as we are preparing the elect for their baptism.
The Liturgical Year is important because it gives time structure, it provides a frame of mind, and it assists with the recalling of memorial of events. Science fiction stories talk a lot about going back in time, and Steven Hawking asks, “Why do we tell stories about going back in time, and why do we remember the past and not remember the future?”
Jesus’ death and resurrection are the fulcrum point of time. We need to be paying attention to what that means, what happened at the moment of the crucifixion and what happened at the moment of the resurrection. Remember that at the very beginning of time “In the beginning was the Word” and it goes forward to the end of time.
The part of the Eucharistic Prayer called the Anamnesis includes the past, present, and future. Luke understands that our journey starts at the birth of Christ, and that the past is about the future. Luke recognizes that the death images he includes in the story of Jesus will be descriptive of our deaths.
The fact is that Jesus is always with us. What we are celebrating is the fullness of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is so much about the mystery of Jesus Christ that we (and the elect) need the entire year to experience its fullness. Someone asked where Jesus went during those three days after his death? Our instructor felt that the Resurrection reflects a new reality with Jesus, in and through everything: We are the Body of Christ.
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