Today, after we finished our choir, our choir master told us, “See you at Christmas”. It is a final closure that Lent is finished. Holy Week is over. Easter is done with. Next will be Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and some other feastdays. Usually, the choir only sing in ‘very big feastday’ as it is not easy to gather 30-40 people to practise weekly with discipline.
In previous years, Lent is not as busy as this year. This year, I have to make sure that all the lectors get their correct readings, swap some last minute cancellation, negotiate for changing of duties, hovering around to see that they turn up and etc.
The Easter vigil mass is one of the most beautiful and I am so relieved that all the lectors read so well, especially the first lector. I would have preferred not to deal with the selection of lectors but since I wasn’t given names to roster, I trust my instinct that the combination was a good one. And praise the Lord, they really put the congregation in the mood.
During the baptism, I was whispering with my son that these newly baptised thirty people are going to start an arduous journey in the Catholic church. I have always believed that new converts ought to be given some support in their first few years because the Catholic church is really full of mind boggling rituals and unless they understand it, the rituals can be rather outdated and ‘no fun’. This is especially so for the younger generation ones who are probably more attracted to hands-on kind of praise and worship.
After six years, I finally can appreciate the whole ceremony of baptism and confirmation. During this year Easter Vigil, I finally get to sit down and understand all the things done on that night. However, this too is due to my research and reading on the internet. I have seek answers to ‘why do they dunk the candle in the tempayan of water’ to ‘why they have a stove at the church’ and etc etc. After I know all these intricacies, then, only I appreciate how beautiful my baptism and confirmation was six years ago.
I am glad that I have chosen the Catholic church to belong to when I decided to convert to Christianity. I love how elaborate things are and how wonderful to see people coming together to make Easter so meaningful.
And so begin our new journey….as we have also renewed our baptismal vow..
April 15th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
So quickly Lent came and went, now we are in the Easter season!
Easter vigil has got to be the most beautiful time of the year when we journey from darkness to light.
Anyway, like you said, when you learned more about the rituals behind the actions, it becomes very meaningful.