18 April 2025
This coming Sunday our focus changes at the Rector's Study. We will commence a study of the mass, and this focus will continue throughout early summer. We will cover the texts and rituals of the mass, drawing from the lectionary, the Prayer Book, and historic missals. Whether you serve at the altar, sing in the choir, or worship in the pews, I commend joining us on Sunday nights.
A major part of the Easter drama is the discovery that Jesus is forever present with his disciples in every age and place through the mass. If Christians wish to discover Jesus, they do so by sharing the Eucharist. It is in the Liturgy of Word and the Sacrament of Holy Communion that Christ is alive among us. Ever since that first Easter Day, the followers of Christ have studied the Scriptures and celebrated the Sacrament. This is why the pandemic had the potential to be so traumatic for the church and humanity, for due to the necessity of being safe, the church lost, if just for a moment, the ability to gather communally in the flesh for the celebration of Christ's presence among us. We were stripped of that essential Easter joy that gives life to our existence. As we exercised safety in one way, we became lost in another.
Thankfully, that time has receded, while the faith continues to flourish before us. Since that first Easter Day, Christians have been gathering for the Eucharist weekly and daily. In our modern world, just as was the case for the first disciples, the mass strengthens us to be God's people. Two thousand years later, as was the case at Emmaus, our eyes are opened and our hearts burn as we hear the scriptures and break the bread, for Christ is alive among us, and this promise is for endless ages.
Happy Eastertide,
Father Paul Lillie +
