Our Time of Renewal
If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4)
Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1962
We are hidden all right. Here we are, when we should be bowing low before the tabernacle of the Risen Lord, humbled that He should come to each of us in the Holy Eucharist, we instead are viewing livestreamed Mass from our smart TVs.
At least we have the TV. When the influenza epidemic of 1918 hit, the populace self-isolated, as we say today. Masks were an afterthought and cities with nearby army installations were “hot spots.” Even the churches were closed; at least the high holy days were at a different time of the year.
But this is Easter! The Feast of the Resurrection of the Savior! Church! Family! Tradition!
May we truly regret that these things have been taken from us, particularly the Eucharistic Presence of the Lord within.
Yet the Solemn Feast goes on, whether we are there singing the Alleluia or not, whether the great Exsultet rings out in hallowed walls or privately within our hearts as we praise God, “Let the trumpet of salvation resound for the victory of so great a king!”
While great focus at this liturgical time is on the newly baptized, we all should keep in mind our own baptismal life and the vows we pledged. It is a time of renewal for us all, for we are part of the Resurrection by the pouring of the water over our heads in the sign of Him who died for us. As my faithful St. Andrew’s Missal comments:
Easteride is the time of new life – Our Savior’s in the first place, living forever a life which belongs no more to the earth and which one day we shall share with Him in Heaven. And then our own lives: from Christ to us; for we have more than the assurance of rejoining Him; snatched by Him from the power of the devil, we belong to Him as His by right of conquest and we share His life.
Easter week is the week of the baptized. They have passed from death to life, from the darkness of sin to the life of grace in the light of Christ. Gathered together in His Church they share her faith and prayer, offer with her, in thanksgiving the sacrifice of the redeemed and discover in the sacred flesh of Christ the food of a brotherly life uniting them in charity.
The moral requirements of the new life are recalled throughout Eastertide. They are governed by the principle enunciated by St. Paul, that risen with Christ, the Christian must raise his desires to Heaven, detach himself from earthly pleasures in order to love those of Heaven. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to complete the formation in the baptized [and all of us] of the “new man” who, by the holiness of his life, bears witness to Christ crucified.
Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1962
Bearing witness. The corona virus has forced a retreat upon us, time away. Let it be fruitful. Let prayer be in our hearts for the Divine Mercy upon this sad world of ours, for the souls of those who have been stricken, and for those who have passed on, especially those who may not have known their time of judgment had come. And let our prayer bring back a personal commitment to faith.
This article, Our Time of Renewal is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/our-time-of-renewal/
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