CONVENTION 2020 Excerpted from
Light of the World: Handing on our Faith
By Michael Ruzicki
Together, let us envision next year’s Holy Saturday. As liturgists, we’ve made all of our preparations. As musicians, we’ve rehearsed all of our pieces. As presiders, we’ve studied our scripts and written our homilies. As always, just going through these motions is enough to exhaust any of us. Trust me, I know. But now, in our exhaustion, in our vulnerability, it is time to enter fully in this transformative and life-giving celebration—in a way we didn’t do in 2020, perhaps in a way we haven’t done in all of our ministry.
We gather in the darkness of night. Fresh on our minds are the Scripture stories of betrayal, suffering, death. How did we get here? How did any of us— individually, as a community, as a Church—get to be around the fire together this year? What betrayals do I bring to this fire? What social injustices do we bring to the Easter Vigil liturgy? How has suffering shaped me and my community in this past year? What deaths are we still mourning? Are they loved ones? Te loss of brave heroes and the many victims of this pandemic? Te continued murder of unarmed black men and women?
Tis is the darkness of our world. Tis, and so many other things, is the darkness that surrounds us.
Tere is discord, and frankly hatred, between us: because of the color of our skin; because some of us wear masks in public and others don’t; because of our place on the ecclesiological left-to-right spectrum; and for some, this discord or anger toward each other is because this person doesn’t act the way in crisis the way you think that they should—without knowing their life journey, or circumstances, or situations . . .
Envision this. We arrive at the church early. We are drawn from the darkness of COVID-19, racial inequality, and whatever else is happening in our world. We are drawn to the blazing fire.
“ You have been enlightened by Christ.”
What if, instead of being busy with last minute preparations, we gathered around the fire and shared the stories of our faith, the triumphs over the cross? What if, instead of going into the church and reserving our seats or preparing our music, we huddled around the fire keeping each other warm, reflecting on this past year’s journey of faith and how we lived our baptism? . . .
We are drawn to that fire that evening. We are drawn out of the darkness of the world to remember ourselves around the fire, the Christ light.
Another beautiful image for this night, an image that should launch us back into the world after the celebration is concluded, is the image of Christ passing that light to each one of us. Tis flame, the flame of the Paschal Candle is divided, divided and undimmed. In fact, the light grows. It’s powerful. It is ridding us of our darkness. We are able to see each other more clearly now—all the pain, the hurt . . . all the support, the love . . . We are able to see that each person in this church is ready to go forth and enlighten the world.
Tere we are, standing together, proudly, confidently holding the Christ light in our hands. Te reflection off the windows, and the glow off of the ceiling remind us that our sisters and brothers around the world and our forebearers of faith in heaven are all joined together with us on this sacred night.
What can this night, unlike any other night, do for us and our world . . . ?
Michael Ruzicki is training and events manager at Liturgy Training Publications and director of music at St. John Berchman’s Parish in Chicago, Illinois.
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