RCIA and the Easter Triduum - Nuts and Bolts

         How to explain the brief sacred season of the Triduum to those coming into the Church on Holy Saturday.  They absolutely know WHAT's going to happen, but they're probably not at all sure HOW it's going to happen..  That's how this talk came about.  Has been used since 2007 not only with adults but teens as well.
         It’s almost eight months since we met for the first time and together began a journey.  On Holy Saturday, our journey reaches its high point.  This journey, for you, our elect, has been, and will continue to be, a life-altering event.  For your sponsors, it is a privilege, as they have walked with you, and for the team, it has been an honor to be a part of this step in your lives.

I personally want to thank you for allowing all of us into your lives at this time.

            And so, on Holy Saturday, you will come to church, and at a certain point in the Liturgy, will either be baptized or received into the Catholic faith, be confirmed, and a little later, approach the altar to receive the greatest gift humanity has ever been given, Jesus Himself in the Eucharist.

            What I want to talk about today is the celebration of the vigil itself.  We will go through the actual “how we get there from here” practice tomorrow.

            Again, I want to especially encourage you to participate in the liturgies of Holy Thursday, and Good Friday.  These days, together with the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, comprise what the Church calls the Easter Triduum.  This short, but very, very powerful season in the church’s liturgical year, lasts only from sunset on Holy Thursday until sunset on Easter Sunday, but it is the most intense time in the church’s calendar.  Each day builds on what has gone before and the intensity and fullness of Holy Saturday, while of course standing alone, can best be appreciated after having participated in the Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies.

            As I said at the beginning, we have been on a journey -- all our lives, of course, but most especially with one another since September.  One phase of that journey will come to fruition on Holy Saturday.

The Church, in its infinite wisdom, sees to it that the Holy Saturday Liturgy is quite unlike any other Mass that you will ever attend.  There’s been a lot of times in the last few years that things have been called “the mother of all [insert your favorite word]” and “the brightest and best.”  From my own experience, I can only tell you that Holy Saturday is indeed “the mother of all liturgies” that the Church will ever have, as well as being “the brightest and best” that the Church has to offer.  There are no other liturgies during the entire church year that come close in terms of all that is involved in this one liturgical celebration.

There is a lot of symbolism involved on this night.  One of the symbols of the Easter Vigil is its length.

First of all, your families and friends are, of course, most encouraged to attend.  Do be certain to tell them, however, that this Liturgy will be long, lasting about two hours, more or less.  

The Holy Saturday Liturgy itself is divided into four parts:  the service of light, the liturgy of the word, the liturgy of baptism and the liturgy of the Eucharist.  These four parts move us through a gradual unfolding of the mystery of the Easter Vigil.

In a common sense, since we have been on a journey, it is only natural that on this night, because we have finally reached our destination, we should stop and “pitch camp,” much as the Israelites did on the journey from Egypt to the promised land.

The church building itself is in darkness, waiting.

Depending on the weather, hopefully, we will all gather around as a fire will be built somewhere outside the church proper and blessed.  The Paschal candle which represents Christ, the light of the world, and which itself bears symbols of Christ, his cross and his wounds as well as the year, is also blessed on this night and lit from the new fire.  The lit Paschal candle is then carried into the dark church and we hear intoned, “Christ, our light,” to which we respond, “Thanks be to God.”  This is done three times, and each time, light is taken from the Paschal candle to light the candles we, and everyone present in the church, will be holding.  It is important to remember the symbolism here:  just as the light of the Paschal candle is never diminished even after being dispersed to light our candles, Christ is never diminished. 

Once in our pews, still standing and holding our candles, we listen to the singing of the Exultet, the Easter proclamation.

The next part of the liturgy, the liturgy of the word, then begins.

Again, just as if we are on a journey, having built our “campfire”, we sit in the dark to listen to our story.  Imagine yourselves around a campfire (I’m sure a lot of you went to camp as children, or like to go camping now, and part of that experience involves sitting around a campfire, telling stories).  We do the same thing, but tonight we are listening to our salvation history.  If you look in the Missalette for this holy week and you look at the readings for Holy Saturday, you might be surprised to find seven different Old Testament readings in addition to a reading from St. Paul and the gospel.  Sometimes, all seven Old Testament readings are done, but at other times, it can be as few as three.  We will be listening to old testament readings so try to read them before Holy Saturday.

Again, the Church wants us to listen to these readings, not read them.  Recall, if you will, the symbolism here – the Israelites’ salvation history was oral – it was not written down until much, much later.  Try to listen with a sense of wonder to these readings, as if hearing them for the first time.  After each of the readings, we will respond with a responsorial psalm, and after the psalm, there is a prayer.

When the Old Testament readings are finished, we sing the “Gloria In Excelsis Deo,” the joyful song the angels sang at Jesus’ birth, which has not be used in the liturgy since Ash Wednesday.  All the lights and all the candles in the Church will be lit, and the church bells are also rung, which has been a tradition for a long time.  Prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, on Holy Thursday after the Gloria was sung, the organ and all of the bells of the churches all over the world were silent until this moment on Holy Saturday.  It is as if they too proclaim the joyousness of this night.  There is then a reading from St. Paul specifically on baptism and then for the first time since Ash Wednesday, alleluia is sung.  After a psalm the gospel of the resurrection is proclaimed as the high point of the entire liturgy of the word, and then the homily is given. 

After the homily, the Liturgy of Baptism begins.  The moment you have all been waiting for is finally here!  The litany of the saints will be sung, and you just may hear your own name during the litany.  The blessing of the water which will be used for your baptism then follows.  Having been called to the baptismal font with your godparent, those of you to be baptized, will then be baptized.  The rest of you will be asked to make a profession of faith in the Catholic Church.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is held after this, and from this point forward, all of you are now called “neophytes.”

The Church deems this night, and these sacraments, so very important that after you have been baptized or made your profession of faith and been confirmed, the entire congregation is then asked to rise and renew our own baptismal promises.  

The Mass then continues with the prayers of the faithful and then we begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Of course, at Communion time, all of you will come forward first to receive your First Holy Communion, which will be given under both species, both the bread and the wine.

The final concluding rites finish the Easter Vigil Liturgy, and to the final dismissal, “Go in the peace of Christ,” “Alleluia” is added, and will be included for the next eight days, also called the octave of Easter.

This Holy Saturday Liturgy is indeed the best and brightest the church has to offer – the number of readings, the beauty of the music, and even the decorations of the church attest to the fact that this night is indeed different from all other nights.

I would encourage you to come back to the Easter Vigil every year.  There is always much to be learned this night, no matter how many times you have been to Holy Saturday Vigils before or will be in the future. 

Those who know me know that I absolutely love the Christmas season, but as much as I love Christmas, so that much more I look forward to Lent and the Easter season, especially this year.  This year more than any other has truly become a season of hope for me.  In January, we lost a very good priest, Fr. Riley, to cancer.  It is not his dying that gives me hope; it was his own words of belief in the Resurrection and the joy of seeing our God that gave me hope.  He said, “I have always believed and taught in the goodness of God and how wonderful eternity is.  I’m ready now to meet both and I look forward and am eager to die.”  This statement is very poignant for me, because this year has been the year that my doctors decided that it was time to treat a disease I have had for 37 years, without any overt symptoms.  It is not the disease itself that has me so haggard and tired, it is the treatment, but please don’t pity me or feel sorry for me - I am three months into the treatment regimen and that means I only have 9 more months to go!  Now, if that isn’t a reason to hope, I don’t know what is.  

So when we leave church on Holy Saturday night, we will have fulfilled our obligation for Easter Sunday, but I would encourage you to come to mass on Easter Sunday, for it too is not your ordinary Sunday mass.  Again on Easter, there is a renewal of Baptismal promises and the sprinkling with holy water.  And then there is the 8-day octave of Easter.  Since Easter is a solemnity, the Church celebrates for 8 days, but the entire Easter season lasts 50 days, until the feast of Pentecost.

When we are children, time is irrelevant.  It is an eternity from the beginning of school to Christmas vacation and even longer after Christmas break to summer vacation.  It was the same for me.  Time pretty much ran together until Holy Week came around each year.  Even as a youngster, this week was different.  As a child, I only remember going to 1 or 2 Holy Thursday Masses because I could still fit into my First Communion dress and we were part of the procession which explained to you a little while ago.  But the entire Mass, except for the homily, was in Latin.  As an 8 or 9 year old, it was a long evening.  But the one thing our family always participated in was the Good Friday Passion service.  But it was not until I was 16 years old and we had moved to our home in Parma that January that I could finally walk to church.  This was no small thing for me, because for my first 15 years of life, if I wanted to go to church, I had to be driven as our parish was too far away from our home.  As part of my Lenten practice that year, I decided I would go to daily mass at my new parish, because I could walk there.  And so, at the age of 16, for the first time, I experienced Holy Week and the Easter Triduum in all its fullness, and it was here that I felt God speaking to my heart.

During our lifetimes, we measure time by significant events:  we can all remember where we were on September 11, 2001.  We make preparations for important events like holidays or birthdays or weddings.  If you’ve planned or are planning a wedding or other major event, you plan everything down to the last detail because you want the celebration to be perfect.  This Holy Saturday night is a celebration – all that we have planned for – and it will be perfect, so, from this point forward, I would especially encourage you to remember Holy Saturday as a very special day, for in a sense it is your spiritual birthday.  So let me be the first to wish you a “Happy Birthday.” 

But in a very real sense, all of you have a huge family of brothers and sisters in Christ who have been praying for you these past months, and waiting for you to come home.  So let me be the first to say, “Welcome Home!”