Dear Parishioners:
At the Easter Vigil Mass, the Exsultet is sung. It is a triumphant hymn and wonderful sacramental that is the prelude to the solemnities of the Mass. It says: “Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.” Indeed we are glad and we rejoice that the Lord is Risen. But we are also “glad” because there is an end of the “gloom and darkness” of the last year’s lockdown and the closing of our churches last Easter.
On Easter 2021 let us rejoice as we are able to gather together and celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin and death. We also rejoice as a parish family as we welcome so many new members who are baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Faith at the Easter Vigil. We sing joyfully with the Psalmist: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Easter is the celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. There are 50 days of Easter from the first Sunday to Pentecost. Fifty days to celebrate with gladness and joy. Easter is a “Passover” from death to new life. In some languages, the connection between the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter is explicit.
The Hebrew word for Passover is Pesach. In French, Easter is Paques. In Italian it’s Pasqua. In many other languages, the word for Easter is simply a transliteration of the Greek word for Easter, Pascha. Our English word, Easter, is German in origin, coming from the archaic word for new life, which is to say, resurrection.
In whatever language, Easter is a time of resurrection and rebirth, a time to celebrate the risen Christ and God’s promise of eternal life. All faith flows from faith in the resurrection. St. Paul says: "If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith."
In Italy, Easter Monday is known formally as lunedi dell’Angelo, or “Monday of the Angel,” and informally as Pasquetta, or “little Easter.” After celebrating Easter Sunday by attending Holy Mass and sharing a delicious meal of lamb and ham, many Italians continue to celebrate the day after on Easter Monday, Pasquetta, with great joy.
The reference to an angel evokes the Gospel scene of an angel encountering several women outside Christ’s empty tomb, where they had gone to perfume his dead body with oils. According to the Gospel of Mark, they instead encountered an angel, who told them: “Don’t be afraid! You’re seeking Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one. He is risen, he’s not here.”
On Pasquetta (Easter Monday) all the Easter leftovers are packed up for an outdoor picnic with family and friends. Often Italian families go to the local cemetery and spread their blanket and then eat their Easter leftovers near the graves of their beloved dead. For us as Catholics, cemeteries are reverent, hopeful, and prayerful places.
For much of the world today, cemeteries are associated with scary ghosts and viewed as spooky places. However, as Catholics, we honor and revere our dead. We continually pray for them and have Masses offered for them. Therefore, for the Catholic, a cemetery is a reminder of the promise and the hope of the resurrection in Jesus Christ. So be sure to stop by and pray with and for your beloved dead at Easter. Bring Easter flowers to the grave and perhaps even enjoy a picnic with them on Pasquetta!
As Catholics, we believe that the grave is not the final destination. With St. Paul, we proclaim to the world: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? ” While we look back upon this last year and reflect on the pains and sorrows of death, the sufferings of sickness and deprivation of this worldwide pandemic as Christian disciples on Easter 2021 we proclaim that suffering and death do not have the final word. Let us rejoice with faith, hope, and love in the Resurrection of Christ. St. John Paul the Great said: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”
In the name of Fr. Barrow, Fr. Connors, Sr. Lourdes, Sr. Emma, Sr. Soledad, and Sr. Jeanne we wish you a Happy and Holy Easter