Faithful watching

Today is a day of watching and waiting.  Traditionally the Catholic community is called to fast today, and to keep this day in solemn prayer.  In ancient times the catechumens would begin to gather in the church, and later the cathedral, to spend the night in prayer and vigil.  The baptized community would pray with and for the faithful.  To be sure in our culture we have a hard time of waiting; but this is exactly what today is all about.

Again, is used to be, that many of the liturgical prayers were that of exorcism.  Now this is not about heads spinning and pea green soup, but it does have to do with evil and the power of Satan.  A better part of our liturgical prayer had been to drive out evil as well as to protect us from the effects of evil.  The baptismal font itself was blessed and exorcised three times. In addition, the catechumens would pronounce their faith three times, facing the west (where the sun had set) and renouncing evil, and facing east (the rising of the sun) and professing faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  So this watching and waiting had, and continues to have, somewhat of a penitential tinge to it, in addition to a joyful hope and expectation.

In both the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for today we acknowledge our sins and brokenness while at the same time proclaiming a full spirited trust in God's love and mercy.  St. Paul's letter to the Hebrews offers us a theology and reflection of Jesus' role as the high priest.  Jesus we are told becomes the altar, lamb, and priest of the sacrifice.  The Paschal celebration is in every sense the center of our faith and Church life. 

I am sure that some folks hate the fact that everything is sung, there is incense, and lots of processions, this is the least that we can do considering what we are celebrating.  More so these three days are meant to dissect the faith that we celebrate each of the days of our life.  So as the preface reminds us, it is truly right and good to take time and effort with each of these celebrations.  While the idea of pondering and reflecting might be anathema to us, it is essential if we are to understand the hows and whys of what we do at Mass, and the rest of the week too.

So this is preparation day.  Sure get the sweet potatoes and ham ready, but take some time to pray and consider what this celebration is all about.  It's hard to proclaim 'Alleluia' if we do not understand what we are doing.  Because our understanding is the first step in imitating the mysteries we celebrate.