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Third Sunday of Easter
6 April 2008
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
Easter. The ancient origins of the word ‘Easter’ are in Middle English and Old High German and are related to a prehistoric pagan festival of Spring in which revelers looked to the rising sun in the East to bring new life to earth. The Church in English-speaking lands adapted the use of the old pagan name to the heart of the Christian religion: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Pasch. (pronounced pask). This strange and awkward English word comes to us through Greek and Latin from the Hebrew word for Passover: pesach. So Pasch means Passover, and from this word we get its adjectival form in English: paschal. The Children of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the Hebrew houses marked by the blood of a slain lamb. And every year after that saving event down to this day, Jews celebrate the Passover with a ritual meal of unleavened bread (not taking time to let the bread rise shows haste) and lamb. It was during the celebration of the Passover meal that the Lord Jesus gave us the Most Holy Eucharist in which His Body and Blood are given to us under the forms of unleavened bread and wine. His death on the Cross made Jesus the Lamb of God, and for this reason He is our Passover and our freedom from slavery to sin and death.
Mystery. The specific theological meaning of this word in English is derived from its roots in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. ‘Mystery’ means the making known of a hidden plan, the revelation of something unseen. It is from the Greek word ‘mysterion’ that we also derive the Latin word ‘sacramentum’. The seven sacraments (or sacred mysteries), therefore, are the means used by God to reveal and unite us to the eternal Plan of Salvation: that all things should be reconciled to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit through the suffering, death, and Resurrection of the Son.
The Paschal Mystery (or Passover Sacrament) of the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated every time Mass is offered, but during the fifty days of Eastertide the sacred liturgy is most especially focused on our Passover. The death of the true Lamb of God is our freedom from death, and His Resurrection is our promise of eternal life. And the instruments He uses to unite us to His death and Resurrection are the sacraments, chiefly Baptism and the Most Holy Eucharist. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Father Newman