Glorious Easter

Happy Easter!!!   I meant to post my Easter greetings earlier (last night actually!) but while my mind was willing, my body was not.  Why?  Two words…Easter Vigil.  ;)  Anyway, this greeting isn’t really that late.  It’s only the first day of Easter, which is 50 days long!  I promise to come up with a more proper greeting or message towards the end of this entry.  For now, allow me to tell you about our Holy Week…

Homesick.  That’s how I felt for most of Maundy Thursday.  And my Holy Week entry last year can give a clear picture why.  I can say I’ve done well in keeping homesickness at bay.  But Thursday, whoa, my mind just kept drifting  off to Pinas.  It was bordering on bad, really.  I don’t recall being like this on Christmas and New Year.  I kept looking at my watch, thinking about what I would probably doing at certain times if I were home:  Mass, Visita Iglesia, Pabasa.  In that exact same order.  Part of me was feeling a wee bit sad and I have to admit, I was grumpy!  Hee hee!  It’s common knowledge that the country where we are right now is not predominantly Catholic.  Thursday and Friday, were just ordinary days, so to speak. So if one’s looking for more tangible signs of Holy Week, one won’t find it.  That is, if one doesn’t know where to look.

While I know and realize that the solemnity and observance of Holy Week is, in a great way, up to me really, I was terribly longing for an honest to goodness “feel” of the day’s importance.  Am I even making sense?    And I did find it…in church, wherelse?!

Abby and I went to church on Maundy Thursday for the 7pm mass.  Hubby couldn’t join us because of work.  That’s another grumpy point for me!  Anyway, the moment Abby and I sat down in church, I started to feel better.  I was surprised to see a good number of people present in church.  And I found it very comforting.  The mass, although not as elaborate as the ones back home, was very solemn and heartwarming.  There was “Washing of the Feet” and at the end of the celebration, the Blessed Sacrament was brought to the Altar of Repose, where it was exposed upto midnight.  Yes, just like at home!  And I realized, if all Catholic churches followed this practice of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, we may be able to do a Visita Iglesia nest year!  That’s definitely something worth looking into.  And throughout all this, Abby was a very good girl in church.  Thank you, God!

The three of us attended the Good Friday service as well, again at 7pm.  It was a 2-hour service but time was hardly noticeable.  And yesterday, we attended the Easter Vigil, like we always have.  It was 3-hours long but nobody seemed to mind.  Not even Abby!  The lighting of the candles, the blessing with holy water and the baptism of new Catholics kept her interested.    It’s the most beautiful Mass celebration I’ve attended away from home.  It was very helpful that every part of the celebration was explained briefly.  It’s as if I was attending and learning about the Easter Vigil for the first time.  

I guess what I loved most was the message of hope that Easter brings.  Fr. Isidore, our parish priest, gave a heartwarming homily, which I’m sure, most of us will appreciate.  We, too have our own “Good Fridays”, our problems and all else that keeps us from having peace of mind.  But as Jesus Christ was resurrected on the 3rd day, we too, shall have our own personal resurrections, when our despairs turn into hope and our sorrows into joy.  It usually takes more than 3 days before we see our miracles, but we should always remain hopeful and take comfort in God’s love for us.  That is the practical application of the power of the miracle of Christ’s resurrection.  To this day, Christ’s miracles continue to manifest.  I bet you have a story or two (even more!) to share of when your Good Fridays became Easter Sundays.  And should that story of yours give hope to someone else, specially someone you know and care about, why not share that story with them?!   *sigh*  Easter, the greatest proof that God is indeed good…all the time.

And with that, I wish you all days filled with joy, hope, love and peace, and everything else that’s good that you so desire and wish.  Happy Easter!

“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness.”  ~Floyd W. Tomkins