Celebrate the Joy

This year, the Easter Vigil I celebrated in my church on Saturday night was particularly inspiring. I didn't want to go, but was glad that my dad pushed me. Still fighting a cold, I'd spent most of the day in bed, drifting in and out of various states of consciousness. When he called me, it was a bit of a rude awakening.

At first I feared my chills had returned, but the house had simply gotten colder as the sun set. A few minutes and a warm shower later, I was sitting out in the car waiting for my parents. I was dizzy, and had a headache, and felt a bit nauseous. These were either lingering symptoms from my illness, or a normal response to oversleeping. Perhaps it was both. Either way, I was grumpy and a little terse. When my dad repeated “okay on the right” for the third time, I snapped back there were still cars coming on the left. “Fine, I won't talk. I'm just trying to help you avoid another accident.” he sulked. Still fighting a lingering cough from his Walking Pneumonia, his mood was made worse by the possibility that we'd be late for church. “I don't know why I go with these people...” I heard him muttering before we left, while my mom was still getting ready.

We made it on time, though not early, and there were no parking spots. I dropped my folks off at the door, circled the block, and found a spot up the road. The walk in the brisk air helped perk me up a little bit, and I was pleased to enter a darkened church. We begin our Easter celebration with a candlelight vigil, and this year my ill light-sensitive eyes appreciated the atmosphere.

After about 45 minutes of songs and readings, the lights came up at full power and it felt like someone stabbed me in both eyes. We blew out our candles and listened to the gospel reading, then our pastor proceeded with a strong homily. Rey has an outstanding post up in which he ties Good Friday to some of his rough high school experiences with gangs(which I recently alluded to briefly). Rey had a lot of bad Fridays, but Jesus had a particularly bad one. It's a solemn occasion, a time to remember that He gave his life for all of us, even our enemies as Rey observes.

It's easy to get caught up in the bad things in our life. Our pastor spoke of people who tear us down, who focus on the negative in their lives as well as our own. Many people mourn, and many live forever on a bad Friday. They never get beyond that. They’re stuck on Friday. Three days after death was a great miracle, a resurrection, a time of great joy. “CELEBRATE the JOY!” he declared. I can never be reminded enough not to feel sorry for myself, that I've recovered from everything I've suffered. Even as the priest spoke, I could feel my head clearing. I took a deep breath, my lungs filling to their capacity without a struggle. My aches and pains were fading. I was getting healthier, as I always do.

Easter Vigil is also a time when we renew baptismal vows, responding to a series of inquiries from the priest...

“Do you reject Satan, and all his works and empty promises?”/“I do.”

“Do you believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth?”/“I do.”

...and so on. However, like children in school who've repeated things so many times we don't know what we're saying, each “I do” was a barely audible mumbled sound from 200 parishioners. The pastor stopped after two questions, and pointed out that we could do better, to really listen to what he was asking and enthusiastically respond. He started over, asking each question boldly, and it was truly energizing. I hadn't been so caught up in a moment since the last time I threw my fist in the air for each “NO!” during a karaoke rendition of ”We're Not Gonna Take It” last month.

So rejoice. Forget about all your problems, all the things in life that you're not happy with. Time heals all wounds and makes all concerns trivial. It seems like the persecuted have the most faith. Bad days and suffering sometimes have a higher purpose, even if we don't recognize it during those low points. It's hard to imagine a day worse than being mocked, beaten, and crucified. Yet that served a far greater good, and led to a pretty amazing Sunday.

Happy Easter.