Up until recently, I had a very strong memory of the Easter Vigil… and it wasn’t a positive one. I remember being a teen and my parents wanting us to experience the Holy Saturday liturgy. It started late, felt like the longest Mass I’d ever been to, there was a lot of singing and if I’m honest, I thought it was boring.
Well, I don’t know if that was just my teen attitude, or my church didn’t plan its best liturgy that year, or any combination of things. I wrote off the Easter Vigil as a dreaded service I didn’t plan to attend again.
Fast-forward to 2019. My friend Kellie was going through the RCIA program at St. Josaphat, and I was honored to serve as her sponsor. The RCIA journey culminated in Kellie receiving the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. Oh boy, I was returning to the Easter Vigil...
Well I can assure you, this experience was so much better than I could have predicted!
We started with a bonfire outside, then processed into the church in darkness, lighting each other’s candles. Three lectors took turns reading dramatically from the creation story in Genesis, and other stories of our ancestors in faith. The church was eventually illuminated to beautiful music and fanfare. And the best part of all was watching Kellie get baptized in the baptismal font! (If you thought Fr. Francis enjoyed sprinkling kids at First Communion with holy water, you should see his grin when he pours a pitcher of water on a new Catholic adult’s head!)
I was baptized as a baby, so it was very different and special for me to witness adults making this choice to enter fully into our Catholic faith. It was a moving ceremony that reenergized my faith, and helped me make some adult connections to the events from my youth—my own First Communion and Confirmation.
I hope you will consider joining us this year for the
Easter Vigil
Saturday, April 8, at 8:00 pm
Two catechumen will be baptized, and all four RCIA participants will be confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the first time. (If I haven’t sold you yet, there are a few practical bonuses too: there’s a reception after Mass with cake and wine; you can sleep in on Easter morning; and you don't have to worry about finding a seat or a parking spot at the crowded Easter morning Mass!)
Hope to see you there!
Sue Fedea, Parish Communications
