Liturgy Notes from Joann
CHRIST IS RISEN!
The Sundays of the Easter season are a continuation of Easter Sunday. Forty days of fasting have given rise to fifty days of feasting! One way to keep the celebration alive in the weeks to come is to practice mystagogy. Mystagogy is a prayerful breaking open of the Easter mysteries, especially focusing on the liturgical symbols of Easter.
The discipline of mystagogy begins with encountering the risen Christ in the sacraments and is meant to give us “a new perception of faith, of the Church, and of the world” (RCIA 245). This discipline is part of the journey for Sophia and Jackie who were baptized at the Easter Vigil and encountered the risen Christ for the first time in Holy Communion. It is a discipline that all of us need to practice as we learn to see our faith, the Church and the world with new eyes. The following are mystagogical reflections from Living Liturgy, published by Liturgical Press:
Last Sunday, the risen Christ appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room and said “Peace be with you”. His offering of peace did three things for the disciples: it eased their fear, gave them the power to forgive, and strengthened their belief. When we share the sign of peace at Mass, let us recall that this simple rite is more than a pleasant greeting. It can change a person’s life, especially ours, if we share it with those who are afraid, those we need to forgive, and those who need encouragement in their faith.
In today’s Gospel, the risen Christ asks for something to eat. He eats what has been prepared for him as a sign that he is not an apparition. He’s not a ghost or something that the disciples imagined. He is truly present! He proves this at an ordinary dinner table.
What does this mean, then about our own dinner tables? If the risen Christ has shown himself not only at the altar of the Eucharist but also in such ordinary places as a diner on the road or at a home dinner table, should we not treat the tables wherever we eat as sacred places as well? Whenever we prepare food and place it before someone to eat in our homes, do we see Christ present there, too? This Easter season, honor the tables where you eat and the opportunity to see Christ present there.
CHRIST IS RISEN, INDEED!
Psalm Refrain for April 22 –
Fourth Sunday of Easter (Psalm 118:22)
The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
Alleluia.