Reflections on a Liturgy

I still have very vivid memories of an Easter Vigil nearly five years ago, at St. Francis of Asissi Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. I stood on a patch of concrete pavement just outside the front of the church, with all the other catechumens, as we shivered in our grey robes that cool spring evening. We stood with the Priest, the Deacon, and the rest of the Congregation around a little pile of wood, awaiting the blessing and lighting of the fire that signals the start of one of the richest and most beautiful liturgies of the year, and signalled for us "the end of the beginning" of the longest journey of our lives.

The liturgy of the Easter Vigil Mass is dominated by three great themes or symbols: light, water, and birth. The symbol of light is of particular interest to me here, and I would like to offer some brief memories and reflections drawn from that great Liturgy.

After the Paschal Candle is lit, another candle is lit from its flame. Each member of the congregation holds a candle. One by one, as the congregation processes into the church, each member holds out his or her candle to be lit from the flame of someone else's candle, and then in turn shares that new flame with yet another. A moment of great beauty and power occurs when all have arrived inside the darkened church, and only the flickering of countless candles dispels the darkness. A cantor switches on one small electric light, and begins to chant one of the most beautiful and profoundly moving passages of the liturgy- tracing the slow and solemn history of redemption.

The catechumens have no candles until after their baptism, which occurs sometime later in the liturgy; then, welcomed home by choruses of "Alleluia's", they receive white robes, and are handed candles by their sponsors.

I cannot do justice here, or with words at all, to the richness, splendor, beauty, and sheer heartbreaking glory of the Easter Vigil. The symbolic elements of the Liturgy alone offer a wealth of beauty and wisdom that even years of meditation cannot exhaust. But from that wealth I would like to draw four distinct thoughts; thoughts that will serve as an expression of this blog's purpose and intention.

The first two thoughts I will pass over briefly, with the hope of expanding on them in later posts, as they require some "proof" or explanation.

The first is simply the thought that there is light (truth). While once considered somewhat self-evident this simple fact has been greatly obscured by contemporary moral and philosophical relativism. Suffice it to say here that if there is light, if there is some absolute truth, then the widespread denial of it indicates a serious confusion that ought not to be ignored.

The second thought stems in part from the first, namely, that light is badly needed in our times. The serious social, moral, political, philosophical, artistic, and religious confusion, corruption and doubt found so often close at hand, may also make this a self-evident statement to some. However, since it relies in part upon the acceptance of the first thought, the acceptance of absolute truth, it also requires a certain proof, and will be discussed more fully in later posts.

The third thought is about candles. The Easter Vigil liturgy described above explains the candle light as the Light of Christ, received from the single source of the Paschal Candle. But, surely, if the flame represents the Light of Christ, then the candle must represent the human soul with all of its faculties. A candle is a truly beautiful thing, but if it remains unlit then it fails of its true purpose and its greatest beauty. In like fashion, the intellect, will, and emotions of the human soul, amazing as they are, were never meant to be set in a cupboard, or hung on a wall unused. My own life and experience too often makes me think about bushel baskets. Regrettably. Our souls were meant for light, and they were meant to shine brightly.

The fourth and final thought concerns the way in which the Light is received. Notice that at the Easter Vigil each member of  the congregation does not go and light his or her candle directly from the Paschal Candle, but rather from some other member of the congregation. Surely this reminds us that we do not grasp or achieve the light, but rather receive it. True, the supernatural Life of the soul is, in one sense, a direct miracle from God, but the people, things and events that lead us to that Life, and even the Sacraments that confer it, are intermediaries. Nor is the Light a solitary thing, a thing between "me and God", but in community the individual flickering candles become a growing brightness, great enough to see by. I hold community and conversation in very high esteem.

So these four thoughts bring me to a purpose:
I wish to offer a variety of thoughts and essays on this blog, with the hope of sparking some illuminating conversations for our times. Conversations that I ask to be conducted civilly, rationally, and honestly. Without these three modifiers we are likely to get nowhere at all. But with them, bringing our candle-souls together toward the Truth, we may discover unexpected Light. As noted in the Easter Vigil Liturgy, we do not stand alone, but in community, lighting our candles from those with whom we have gathered; until the solitary, flickering candles become a great and growing light. I believe that light is crucial in our times, in many areas: moral, theological, philosophical, political, etc., but my sincere hope in sharing the thoughts and posts that follow,  is that, instead of merely arguing or pontificating, through community and conversation, we may together discover and draw near to Truth, lighting our candles from the One Eternal Flame.  While the specific tone and topics of this blog will almost necessarily be expressions of Catholic thought and theology, and are most particularly intended as a Catholic-Protestant dialogue, the wide range of topics to be expressed will pass specifically religious boundaries, and I sincerely seek a wide participation. Whether Buddhist, Protestant, Hindu, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, etc., with honesty, and in civil communication, let us all keep vigil, awaiting the dispelling of the darkness, and heralding the coming Dawn.