#easter-vigil — Public Fediverse posts

The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

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The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

The table of the Lord is Holy.

The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

Yet in our time, that table has been defiled.

The church has become a place where food offered to idols is served. These idols are not of wood and stone but of political causes, cultural trends, social programmes, and false moral appearances. They are the idols of the age, and they have been brought into the sanctuary.

The Social Gospel, with all its political causes and cultural trends, is such an idol.

It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King Jesus Christ offers heavenly reconciliation.

It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace. It rearranges deck chairs on a sinking ship. It offers programs where it should offer presence. It offers politics where it should offer peace. It offers activism where it should offer adoration.

This is not the Gospel. It is a counterfeit—a substitute that speaks of earthly kingdoms while ignoring the heavenly. It is food wrapped in pretty paper, but inside is rotting meat. It is a deception, a snare, and a trap.

Congregations that consume this food are not being heart-fed; they are being mind-fed. Their souls are starved while their minds are filled with the philosophies of men. Those who serve this food as if it were the Gospel are not acting as faithful shepherds of the flock; they are leading souls away from the true pasture.

We make it very clear, we do not seek merely to promote our own theology within COFE-CYEM by pointing the finger at (any) other theologies, denominations or faiths. COFE-CYEM itself makes many claims around our theology, our belief system and our faith.

We do not expect or ask everybody to just blindly believe our way of seeing and believing. All we seek is to call attention to the issue of the church and faith itself being used as a Trojan Horse for (worldly) purposes in order to further the interests of man and not God Himself.

We implore our followers respectfully – if you ever feel, suspect or see anything whatsoever within our own theology or posts here on COFE-CYEM that you believe is pushing (worldly) purposes or schemes, then please call us out and expose us.

We are no different or more righteous than any other brother or sister in Christ. But if we were to be found (using) the true Gospel as a Trojan Horse to push a false Gospel for our own purposes – then we are truly lost indeed.

The Nature of the Deception

The danger arises whenever social action, political programmes, or cultural causes become substitutes for the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, rather than fruits flowing from communion with Him.

The New Testament consistently presents love for neighbour and care for the poor as genuine expressions of faith, not as alternatives to it.

The error is not in caring for the needy or seeking justice. The error is in presenting such activities as the Gospel itself, or as a sufficient substitute for repentance, faith in Christ, and the new birth.

Those who preach this substitute gospel speak of power where the Priest-King spoke of weakness. They speak of victory where He spoke of the cross. They speak of this world as if it were the only world. They have departed from the faith and given themselves over to the spirit of the age.

They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power. They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion.

This is not a judgment on persons but a discernment of teaching. We do not know the hearts of those who preach these things, and we leave their final judgment to God.

We are called to test the spirits and to distinguish between the pure food of the Gospel and the poisoned food that has been offered to idols. The warning is not against individuals but against the teaching itself, which, however attractively packaged, leads away from Christ.

The Rot Beneath the Wrapping

False teaching often comes wrapped in the language of the Bible, the imagery of the cross, and the emotions of the congregation. It speaks of love, justice, and compassion, but it hollows out their meaning. It is like the fig tree that had leaves but no fruit—a show of life without the reality of life.

Congregations that consume this food are being fed a diet of politics, activism, and social reform, but they are not being fed the pure Word of God.

They are being told to fight for earthly causes, but they are not being told to enter the Holiest of All. They are being told to change the world, but they are not being told to rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

They are being told to be activists, but they are not being told to be worshippers. They are being told to build the kingdom of God on earth, but they are not being told that the Kingdom of God is within them.

The food that is being served is a gospel of the flesh, a gospel of the world, a gospel of the age. It has no power to save, no power to transform, and no power to bring the soul into the presence of God.

It leads to exhaustion, burnout, and disillusionment. It leads away from the Priest-King, not toward Him. It leads to the outer court, not the Holiest of All. The invitation to serve God in the world becomes a substitute for the invitation to abide in Christ.

The True Gospel and the Mind of Christ

The real Gospel is not a gospel of prosperity, politics, or social reform disguised as salvation. It is not a gospel of emotional experience without transformation.

The real Gospel is this: Jesus Christ, the Priest-King has entered the Holiest of All through His own blood.

The veil is torn.

The way is open.

Every soul who draws near through Him receives mercy, finds grace, and enters the rest that remains.

He ever lives to make intercession.

He brings God to us and us to God. In Him, we are accepted. In Him, we are kept. In Him, the endless life of God flows freely to all who will come. That is the Gospel. Not a portion of it. Not a version of it. It.

The mind of Christ is not the mind of carnal man, which seeks power, recognition, and earthly comfort. The mind of Christ empties itself, takes the form of a servant, becomes obedient unto death, and is exalted by the Father. The mind of Christ builds the church on the rock of revelation, and the gates of hell do not prevail against it.

The mind of Christ measures faithfulness by abiding in the Father’s presence. Those who preach the substitute gospel do not have the mind of Christ. They have the mind of the flesh, the mind of the world, the mind of the age.

They have not entered the Holiest of All. They have not passed through the veil. They have not been cleansed by the blood. They have not received the endless life. They remain in the outer courts, serving the idols of the age.

The Call of This Hour: Wake Up and Return

The call of this hour is clear. The pews empty because souls are hungry for reality—not programs, not politics, not noise, but the living presence of God in truth. Congregations must wake up. They must open their eyes to the deception of false teaching.

They must stop eating the food that has been sacrificed to idols. They must return to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served—the finished work of the Priest-King, the open way into the Holiest of All, the rest that remains, and the endless life that flows from His intercession.

The table of the Lord has been turned into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Gospel of the finished work has been exchanged for a gospel of social reform. The cross has been exchanged for a political platform. The throne of grace has been exchanged for a seat of power.

The rest that remains has been exchanged for the restless striving of the world. The Holiest of All has been exchanged for the outer courts of carnal religion. The church has been used as a Trojan Horse for political purposes, hiding its true agenda behind the language of compassion, justice, and love.

The congregations that continue to consume this food are being poisoned. They are being led astray. They are being robbed of their inheritance. They are being kept from the Holiest of All, from the rest that remains, from the endless life, from the Priest-King.

The time has come for them to wake up. The time has come for them to return. The time has come for them to stop eating the rotting meat and to come to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served.

The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work. It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

The Contrast: The Olive Tree and the Wicked

Psalm 52 powerfully contrasts the man who trusts in his own strength and deceit with the one who trusts in God’s unfailing love and flourishes in His house. The Psalm speaks of the wicked man who boasts of evil, whose tongue plots destruction, who loves evil rather than good, and who trusts in his great wealth and grows strong by destroying others.

This is the image of the one who trusts in his own strength, his own position, his own power. The Psalm declares that God will bring him down to everlasting ruin, snatch him up, tear him from his tent, and uproot him from the land of the living.

But the righteous is like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God, trusting in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. The righteous praises God forever and hopes in His name.

This is the image of the true believer—the one who trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King, who abides in the Holiest of All, who is sustained by the unfailing love of God through Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession.

The true believer does not boast in evil or trust in human schemes, false popular moral sounding social constructs or political power. The true believer trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King Yeshua Emet Melchizedek Salem—Christ Jesus—and abides in Him who has opened the way.

The Final Exhortation

The modern church stands at a critical hour. Many have turned the table of the Lord into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Social Gospel, with its political causes, cultural trends, and false moral appearances, has become the dominant offering.

It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King offers heavenly reconciliation. It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace.

We must not eat of any spiritual food that has been offered in sacrifice to an idol. The table of the Lord is holy. The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

Those who preach the substitute gospel have turned the church into a platform for their political agendas. They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power.

They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion. They are not shepherds of the flock; they are servants of the spirit of the age, offering food that cannot satisfy the soul.

The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work.

It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

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Circle One Fellowship Exeter

I love how the Easter Vigil liturgy specifically calls out bees. In the short version, the Easter candle is referred to as "the work of bees and of your servants' hands," while the long version refers to the flames shared from the Easter candle by the congregation's candles as "fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious."

"Mother bees," that's adorable.

#Easter #EasterVigil #HolySaturday #Catholic #Bees

I love how the Easter Vigil liturgy specifically calls out bees. In the short version, the Easter candle is referred to as "the work of bees and of your servants' hands," while the long version refers to the flames shared from the Easter candle by the congregation's candles as "fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious."

"Mother bees," that's adorable.

#Easter #EasterVigil #HolySaturday #Catholic #Bees

I love how the Easter Vigil liturgy specifically calls out bees. In the short version, the Easter candle is referred to as "the work of bees and of your servants' hands," while the long version refers to the flames shared from the Easter candle by the congregation's candles as "fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious."

"Mother bees," that's adorable.

#Easter #EasterVigil #HolySaturday #Catholic #Bees

Vigil
A #poetry thread

i.

A portal with a warning line,
this cave’s mouth made of blackened stone.
A journey split from mortal time —
into the black. Cries, echoes, groans.

Down I descend to frozen depths.
A poet, partner, pulls me on
past popes and princes who, plaintive, wept
for what to them is neverdawn.

🧵👇🏼

#poem #poemaday #catholic #anglican #easter #eastervigil #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography

Vigil
A #poetry thread

i.

A portal with a warning line,
this cave’s mouth made of blackened stone.
A journey split from mortal time —
into the black. Cries, echoes, groans.

Down I descend to frozen depths.
A poet, partner, pulls me on
past popes and princes who, plaintive, wept
for what to them is neverdawn.

🧵👇🏼

#poem #poemaday #catholic #anglican #easter #eastervigil #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography

Vigil
A #poetry thread

i.

A portal with a warning line,
this cave’s mouth made of blackened stone.
A journey split from mortal time —
into the black. Cries, echoes, groans.

Down I descend to frozen depths.
A poet, partner, pulls me on
past popes and princes who, plaintive, wept
for what to them is neverdawn.

🧵👇🏼

#poem #poemaday #catholic #anglican #easter #eastervigil #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography

Vigil
A #poetry thread

i.

A portal with a warning line,
this cave’s mouth made of blackened stone.
A journey split from mortal time —
into the black. Cries, echoes, groans.

Down I descend to frozen depths.
A poet, partner, pulls me on
past popes and princes who, plaintive, wept
for what to them is neverdawn.

🧵👇🏼

#poem #poemaday #catholic #anglican #easter #eastervigil #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography

Vigil
A #poetry thread

i.

A portal with a warning line,
this cave’s mouth made of blackened stone.
A journey split from mortal time —
into the black. Cries, echoes, groans.

Down I descend to frozen depths.
A poet, partner, pulls me on
past popes and princes who, plaintive, wept
for what to them is neverdawn.

🧵👇🏼

#poem #poemaday #catholic #anglican #easter #eastervigil #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography

Holy Saturday, the quietest day of the church year. A day of mournful emptiness, but also hopeful anticipation.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps 30:5)

#eastervigil #holysaturday #christian #christianlife

Holy Saturday, the quietest day of the church year. A day of mournful emptiness, but also hopeful anticipation.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps 30:5)

#eastervigil #holysaturday #christian #christianlife

Holy Saturday, the quietest day of the church year. A day of mournful emptiness, but also hopeful anticipation.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps 30:5)

#eastervigil #holysaturday #christian #christianlife

Holy Saturday, the quietest day of the church year. A day of mournful emptiness, but also hopeful anticipation.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps 30:5)

#eastervigil #holysaturday #christian #christianlife

Holy Saturday, the quietest day of the church year. A day of mournful emptiness, but also hopeful anticipation.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps 30:5)

#eastervigil #holysaturday #christian #christianlife

Bees gathering nectar; and a bee-keeper gathering wax for the paschal candle #EasterVigil BL Add MS 30337; the Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075 CE-c.1080 CE; Southern Italy (Monte Cassino); membrane 10 @[email protected]

Bees gathering nectar; and a bee-keeper gathering wax for the paschal candle #EasterVigil BL Add MS 30337; the Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075 CE-c.1080 CE; Southern Italy (Monte Cassino); membrane 10 @[email protected]

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @[email protected]

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @[email protected]

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @[email protected]

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @[email protected]

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @[email protected]

Exsultet iam angelica turba cælorum #EasterVigil Bodleian Library MS. Canon. Bibl. Lat. 61; Gospel Lectionary (Benedictine Use); 1081 CE–1086 CE; Italy, Dalmatia, Zadar (Zara); f.115v @[email protected]

Exsultet iam angelica turba cælorum #EasterVigil Bodleian Library MS. Canon. Bibl. Lat. 61; Gospel Lectionary (Benedictine Use); 1081 CE–1086 CE; Italy, Dalmatia, Zadar (Zara); f.115v @[email protected]

The Pascal candle being censed at the singing of the Exsultet. #EasterVigil BL Add 30337; Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075 CE; Italy, S. (Monte Cassino); f.9 @[email protected]

The Pascal candle being censed at the singing of the Exsultet. #EasterVigil BL Add 30337; Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075 CE; Italy, S. (Monte Cassino); f.9 @[email protected]

'Exsultet iam angelica turba caelorum: exsultent divina mysteria: et pro tanti Regis victoria turba insonet salutaris.' #EasterVigil BL 30337; Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075; Italy, S. (Monte Cassino); m 11 @[email protected]

'Exsultet iam angelica turba caelorum: exsultent divina mysteria: et pro tanti Regis victoria turba insonet salutaris.' #EasterVigil BL 30337; Monte Cassino Exultet Roll; c.1075; Italy, S. (Monte Cassino); m 11 @[email protected]

Underground – RIP MLK 4/4

A Holy Saturday Illustration

Underground – RIP MLK 4/4

A Holy Saturday Illustration

Underground – RIP MLK 4/4

A Holy Saturday Illustration

Underground – RIP MLK 4/4

A Holy Saturday Illustration

Underground – RIP MLK 4/4

A Holy Saturday Illustration

The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

Tonight’s readings

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Paschal Triduum, as you may know, is a long, three-day liturgy that begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues with the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and concludes tonight, here, as we celebrate the Great Easter Vigil in the Holy Night. So right now, we are more or less three-quarters into the celebration, and we’ve covered a lot of ground. Back on Thursday night, Father John urged us not to be mere spectators of these events, not to observe the celebration from 500 feet, but to put ourselves in the story and experience that evening with the disciples. He spoke of the various movements in that celebration: the eating of the Passover meal at the Last Supper, the washing of the feet, the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist. And finally, the agony in the garden that culminated in the arrest of Jesus. He reminded us that real love didn’t consist of just doing what we wanted to do for people, but instead to discern and do what they most needed, just as Jesus knew the apostles needed their feet washed, and needed to grow in their capacity to love as future leaders.

This entering into the events is a part of Catholic theology, liturgy, and spirituality called anamnesis. One could translate anamnesis as memory, remembrance, or commemoration, but none of those is especially adequate. Anamnesis is a remembering in the sense of entering into the event as if it were in the present, of being part of the event itself.

If you’re a cook or baker, maybe you’ve had the experience of making a family recipe, and it brings to mind the loved one who taught it to you, and then you remember a story you shared when that person made it, and then that loved one is almost present to you, and you shed a tear mixed with a smile and a tug at your heart. That’s a little bit of what anamnesis is like. Placing oneself at the Last Supper, in the Upper Room, at the Garden of Gethsemane, and even at Golgotha and the Empty Tomb and letting those events change you as Father John suggested, that’s anamnesis. It’s realized most perfectly in the celebration of the Eucharist, where we don’t just recall the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, but are spiritually present there with all the people of every time and place in every church in the world, on earth and in heaven; where we don’t just receive a symbol of the Lord, but actually receive his body, blood, soul and divinity in the consecrated host. Anamnesis is powerful because it catches us up in the divine life of our Lord, who came to gather up and redeem our broken humanity.

Father James continued the anamnesis yesterday afternoon as we gathered to continue the Triduum Liturgy with the Commemoration of our Lord’s Passion. He reminded us that Jesus wasn’t some kind of helpless victim put to death on the cross, but instead our Lord who willingly laid down his life for us, went to battle to combat sin and death, and, in a somewhat gross analogy, exploded death from the inside out. He invited us to see in the Cross our own sin, failures, and frailty, but also the means of our salvation brandished by our Lord in the battle against all that frailty. We then venerated a cross, which symbolized that Cross that was the Altar of Our Lord’s Sacrifice, and finally we were fed with the Eucharist, presanctified on Thursday night, which nourished us with the Lord’s strength to find true contrition and Divine Mercy.

The anamnesis continued during this evening’s extensive Liturgy of the Word. In it, we have heard stories of our salvation, God’s saving action in the world throughout all time. Each of our readings has been a stop in the history of God’s love for us. God’s plan for salvation began back at the beginning of it all. Each of the days was hallowed with precious creation, and all of it was created and pronounced good. Then Abraham’s faithfulness and righteousness earned us a future as bright as a zillion twinkling stars. Later, as Moses and the Israelites stood trapped by the waters of the Red Sea, God’s providence made a way for them and cut off their pursuers, making the future safe for those God calls his own. The prophet Isaiah calls us to seek the Lord while he may be found, not spending our lives on things that fail to satisfy, but investing in our relationship with God that gives us everything. The prophet Ezekiel foretells the re-creation all humanity will experience as they come to know Christ and are filled with the Spirit. Saint Paul rejoices in the baptism that has washed away the stains of sin as we have died and risen with Christ, and has brought us into a new life that leads ultimately to God’s kingdom. And finally, our Gospel tonight tells us not to be afraid, to go forth into the Galilee of our future and expect to see the Risen Lord. And in all of it, we are present, if we accept our Lord’s invitation to enter in.

“You shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:28). I love that last line from the last of the Old Testament readings we heard tonight. There is a covenant, there has always been a covenant, there always will be a covenant. God created us in love, and he loves us first and best. No matter where we may wander; no matter how far from the covenant we may stray, God still keeps it, forever and always. We will always be his people and he will always be our God. If I had to pick a line that sums up what we’re here for tonight, what we’ve been here for these last 40 days of Lent, that would be it.

And that covenant is pivotal truth in this time of apathy, falsity, and general disinterest. Against all of that, the Church serves as a beacon of truth and grace and mercy as she reflects the glory of our Risen Lord. Our world may indeed be jaded by corruption, hatred, violence, crime, war, racism, lack of concern for the lives of the unborn and the vulnerable, neglect of the poor, and so many other maladies. But when we accept the covenant in our lives, we can be transformed, and become that beacon, and lead those disaffected by the world to the glorious light of God’s redeeming presence.

We have journeyed with our Lord for three days now. We ate with him, we prayed through the night with him, we saw him walk the way of the Cross and tearfully recalled his crucifixion. We reverenced the Cross, joining our own crosses to his. Now we’ve stayed up all night and shared the stories of our salvation, with eager excitement at the ways God has kept that covenant through the ages. A roaring fire shattered the darkness, and a candle was lit to mingle with the lights of heaven. Then grace had its defining moment as Christ shattered the prison-bars of death and rose triumphant from the underworld.

It’s so important that we enter into Lent and the Triduum every year. Not just because we need to be called back from our sinfulness to the path of life – yes, there is that, but it’s not primary here. What is so important is that we see that the Cross is our path too. In this life we will have trouble: our Savior promises us that. But the Cross is what sees him overcome the world and all the suffering it brings us. We will indeed suffer in this life, but thanks be to God, if we join ourselves to him, if we take up our own crosses with faithfulness, then we can merit a share in our Lord’s resurrection, that reality that fulfills all of the salvation history that we’ve heard in tonight’s readings.

Our birth would have meant nothing had we not been redeemed. If we were born only to live and die for this short span of time, how horrible that would have been. But thanks be to God, the sin of Adam was destroyed completely by the death of Christ! The Cross has triumphed and we are made new! Dazzling is this night for us, and full of gladness! Because our Lord is risen, our hope of eternity has dawned, and there is no darkness which can blot it out. We will always be God’s people, and he will always be our God!

And so, with great joy on this most holy night, in this, the Mother of all Vigils, we rightfully celebrate the sacrament of holy Baptism. Our Elect will shortly become members of the Body of Christ through this sacrament which washes away their sins. Then they will be confirmed in the Holy Spirit and fed, for the first time, on the Body and Blood of our Saving Lord. It’s a wonderful night for them, but also for us, as we renew ourselves in our baptismal promises, and receive our Lord yet again, to be strengthened in our vocation as disciples.

We are and always will be God’s people. God has made new his glorious covenant through the resurrection of our Christ. And so, having come through this hour to be sanctified in this vigil, we will shortly be sent forth to help sanctify our own time and place. Brightened by this beautiful vigil, we now become a flame to light up our darkened world. That is our ministry in the world. That is our call as believers. That is our vocation as disciples. “May this flame be found still burning – IN US! – by the Morning Star. The one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

#anamnesis #Baptism #EasterVigil

The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

Tonight’s readings

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Paschal Triduum, as you may know, is a long, three-day liturgy that begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues with the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and concludes tonight, here, as we celebrate the Great Easter Vigil in the Holy Night. So right now, we are more or less three-quarters into the celebration, and we’ve covered a lot of ground. Back on Thursday night, Father John urged us not to be mere spectators of these events, not to observe the celebration from 500 feet, but to put ourselves in the story and experience that evening with the disciples. He spoke of the various movements in that celebration: the eating of the Passover meal at the Last Supper, the washing of the feet, the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist. And finally, the agony in the garden that culminated in the arrest of Jesus. He reminded us that real love didn’t consist of just doing what we wanted to do for people, but instead to discern and do what they most needed, just as Jesus knew the apostles needed their feet washed, and needed to grow in their capacity to love as future leaders.

This entering into the events is a part of Catholic theology, liturgy, and spirituality called anamnesis. One could translate anamnesis as memory, remembrance, or commemoration, but none of those is especially adequate. Anamnesis is a remembering in the sense of entering into the event as if it were in the present, of being part of the event itself.

If you’re a cook or baker, maybe you’ve had the experience of making a family recipe, and it brings to mind the loved one who taught it to you, and then you remember a story you shared when that person made it, and then that loved one is almost present to you, and you shed a tear mixed with a smile and a tug at your heart. That’s a little bit of what anamnesis is like. Placing oneself at the Last Supper, in the Upper Room, at the Garden of Gethsemane, and even at Golgotha and the Empty Tomb and letting those events change you as Father John suggested, that’s anamnesis. It’s realized most perfectly in the celebration of the Eucharist, where we don’t just recall the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, but are spiritually present there with all the people of every time and place in every church in the world, on earth and in heaven; where we don’t just receive a symbol of the Lord, but actually receive his body, blood, soul and divinity in the consecrated host. Anamnesis is powerful because it catches us up in the divine life of our Lord, who came to gather up and redeem our broken humanity.

Father James continued the anamnesis yesterday afternoon as we gathered to continue the Triduum Liturgy with the Commemoration of our Lord’s Passion. He reminded us that Jesus wasn’t some kind of helpless victim put to death on the cross, but instead our Lord who willingly laid down his life for us, went to battle to combat sin and death, and, in a somewhat gross analogy, exploded death from the inside out. He invited us to see in the Cross our own sin, failures, and frailty, but also the means of our salvation brandished by our Lord in the battle against all that frailty. We then venerated a cross, which symbolized that Cross that was the Altar of Our Lord’s Sacrifice, and finally we were fed with the Eucharist, presanctified on Thursday night, which nourished us with the Lord’s strength to find true contrition and Divine Mercy.

The anamnesis continued during this evening’s extensive Liturgy of the Word. In it, we have heard stories of our salvation, God’s saving action in the world throughout all time. Each of our readings has been a stop in the history of God’s love for us. God’s plan for salvation began back at the beginning of it all. Each of the days was hallowed with precious creation, and all of it was created and pronounced good. Then Abraham’s faithfulness and righteousness earned us a future as bright as a zillion twinkling stars. Later, as Moses and the Israelites stood trapped by the waters of the Red Sea, God’s providence made a way for them and cut off their pursuers, making the future safe for those God calls his own. The prophet Isaiah calls us to seek the Lord while he may be found, not spending our lives on things that fail to satisfy, but investing in our relationship with God that gives us everything. The prophet Ezekiel foretells the re-creation all humanity will experience as they come to know Christ and are filled with the Spirit. Saint Paul rejoices in the baptism that has washed away the stains of sin as we have died and risen with Christ, and has brought us into a new life that leads ultimately to God’s kingdom. And finally, our Gospel tonight tells us not to be afraid, to go forth into the Galilee of our future and expect to see the Risen Lord. And in all of it, we are present, if we accept our Lord’s invitation to enter in.

“You shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:28). I love that last line from the last of the Old Testament readings we heard tonight. There is a covenant, there has always been a covenant, there always will be a covenant. God created us in love, and he loves us first and best. No matter where we may wander; no matter how far from the covenant we may stray, God still keeps it, forever and always. We will always be his people and he will always be our God. If I had to pick a line that sums up what we’re here for tonight, what we’ve been here for these last 40 days of Lent, that would be it.

And that covenant is pivotal truth in this time of apathy, falsity, and general disinterest. Against all of that, the Church serves as a beacon of truth and grace and mercy as she reflects the glory of our Risen Lord. Our world may indeed be jaded by corruption, hatred, violence, crime, war, racism, lack of concern for the lives of the unborn and the vulnerable, neglect of the poor, and so many other maladies. But when we accept the covenant in our lives, we can be transformed, and become that beacon, and lead those disaffected by the world to the glorious light of God’s redeeming presence.

We have journeyed with our Lord for three days now. We ate with him, we prayed through the night with him, we saw him walk the way of the Cross and tearfully recalled his crucifixion. We reverenced the Cross, joining our own crosses to his. Now we’ve stayed up all night and shared the stories of our salvation, with eager excitement at the ways God has kept that covenant through the ages. A roaring fire shattered the darkness, and a candle was lit to mingle with the lights of heaven. Then grace had its defining moment as Christ shattered the prison-bars of death and rose triumphant from the underworld.

It’s so important that we enter into Lent and the Triduum every year. Not just because we need to be called back from our sinfulness to the path of life – yes, there is that, but it’s not primary here. What is so important is that we see that the Cross is our path too. In this life we will have trouble: our Savior promises us that. But the Cross is what sees him overcome the world and all the suffering it brings us. We will indeed suffer in this life, but thanks be to God, if we join ourselves to him, if we take up our own crosses with faithfulness, then we can merit a share in our Lord’s resurrection, that reality that fulfills all of the salvation history that we’ve heard in tonight’s readings.

Our birth would have meant nothing had we not been redeemed. If we were born only to live and die for this short span of time, how horrible that would have been. But thanks be to God, the sin of Adam was destroyed completely by the death of Christ! The Cross has triumphed and we are made new! Dazzling is this night for us, and full of gladness! Because our Lord is risen, our hope of eternity has dawned, and there is no darkness which can blot it out. We will always be God’s people, and he will always be our God!

And so, with great joy on this most holy night, in this, the Mother of all Vigils, we rightfully celebrate the sacrament of holy Baptism. Our Elect will shortly become members of the Body of Christ through this sacrament which washes away their sins. Then they will be confirmed in the Holy Spirit and fed, for the first time, on the Body and Blood of our Saving Lord. It’s a wonderful night for them, but also for us, as we renew ourselves in our baptismal promises, and receive our Lord yet again, to be strengthened in our vocation as disciples.

We are and always will be God’s people. God has made new his glorious covenant through the resurrection of our Christ. And so, having come through this hour to be sanctified in this vigil, we will shortly be sent forth to help sanctify our own time and place. Brightened by this beautiful vigil, we now become a flame to light up our darkened world. That is our ministry in the world. That is our call as believers. That is our vocation as disciples. “May this flame be found still burning – IN US! – by the Morning Star. The one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

#anamnesis #Baptism #EasterVigil

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @gallicabnf.bsky.social

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @gallicabnf.bsky.social

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @gallicabnf.bsky.social

Initial 'E'(xsultet) depicting a monk in front of a lectern and a paschal candle, singing the Exsultet. Next to him is the name 'Hugo'. #EasterVigil BnF MS Latin 13765; Collection including Exultet; 11th century (end); France (Jumièges); f. Br @gallicabnf.bsky.social

Holy Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is for reflection and mourning, without Mass, focused on prayer and Jesus in the tomb. The day concludes with the Easter Vigil, starting in darkness and transitioning to light with the Paschal candle, symbolizing hope and resurrection. It invites trust and patience, reminding us that God's work persists in silence. #HolySaturday #EasterVigil #Reflection #Hope #Faith
https://young-catholics.com/683/holy-saturday/

Holy Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is for reflection and mourning, without Mass, focused on prayer and Jesus in the tomb. The day concludes with the Easter Vigil, starting in darkness and transitioning to light with the Paschal candle, symbolizing hope and resurrection. It invites trust and patience, reminding us that God's work persists in silence. #HolySaturday #EasterVigil #Reflection #Hope #Faith
https://young-catholics.com/683/holy-saturday/

Holy Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is for reflection and mourning, without Mass, focused on prayer and Jesus in the tomb. The day concludes with the Easter Vigil, starting in darkness and transitioning to light with the Paschal candle, symbolizing hope and resurrection. It invites trust and patience, reminding us that God's work persists in silence. #HolySaturday #EasterVigil #Reflection #Hope #Faith
https://young-catholics.com/683/holy-saturday/

The resurrection story in Matthew is a swift sunrise. I had forgotten. #EasterVigil

The resurrection story in Matthew is a swift sunrise. I had forgotten. #EasterVigil

The resurrection story in Matthew is a swift sunrise. I had forgotten. #EasterVigil

Pippin and I are holding #EasterVigil together

#caturday

Pippin and I are holding #EasterVigil together

#caturday

Pippin and I are holding #EasterVigil together

#caturday

Pippin and I are holding #EasterVigil together

#caturday

Pippin and I are holding #EasterVigil together

#caturday

lfggggggggggg #Easter #EasterVigil

lfggggggggggg #Easter #EasterVigil

lfggggggggggg #Easter #EasterVigil

lfggggggggggg #Easter #EasterVigil

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord's resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

#EasterVigil #Easter #Anglican #Episcopal #HolyWeek #Lent #Triduum

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord's resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

#EasterVigil #Easter #Anglican #Episcopal #HolyWeek #Lent #Triduum

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord's resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

#EasterVigil #Easter #Anglican #Episcopal #HolyWeek #Lent #Triduum

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord's resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

#EasterVigil #Easter #Anglican #Episcopal #HolyWeek #Lent #Triduum