The joy of Resurrection Sunday, the central event of our faith, and the pinnacle of the Church liturgical year, pours forth into the following 50 Days. May you come to know the joy of the Risen Lord deep within you throughout these 50 Days and beyond.
Here's the view inside our Church, splendidly decorated for Easter Season.
Recap of Last Class
We started class with an Alleluia, since we now sing it again joyfully at Mass.
Our opening prayer was the song "Alive", telling the story of the Resurrection from the perspective of St. Mary Magdalene.
God demonstrates His power over sin, evil, and death through the Resurrection of Christ, by which He brings life to the world.
So the Cross becomes a sign of victory, and so are the wounds which Christ bears is His Risen body, which we read in John 20, from which was taken the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, which was Divine Mercy Sunday. (To illustrate, we watched a short scene from the 2007 PBS NOVA documentary "Forgotten Genius", which is a biography of Dr. Percy Julian.)
Here is the Divine Mercy image inside Church.
The Exultet is a hymn chanted at the start of the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil Mass, telling about how God saved His people throughout history, culminating in the glorious Resurrection of Christ. We spent time listening to it during class, directly from the archived livestream of the Vigil Mass recently at Ascension.
Another recording of it, with the lyrics, is available here.
We concluded class with the "Amen" song from the movie Lilies of the Field, which tells the story of Christ's life, sung by Homer Smith, portrayed by Sidney Poitier.
Activity for the Week
Please pick one of these activities to do during this week, and then submit a short reflection of 1-2 sentences at this link.
1. Write Easter notes to residents at Belmont Village. Please contact Paul for information on where to send them. If you aren't able to do them in time for Resurrection Sunday on April 4, it would still be fitting to send them to the residents as cards for the Easter Season, which lasts for several weeks after Resurrection Sunday.
2. Listen to an Easter Season hymn from this collection and reflect on it. If you listen to the entire collection of songs, that counts as an in-depth option.
3. Read one of these articles about the Easter Season:
4. Listen to music in G.F. Handel's oratorio Messiah: "Hallelujah Chorus", "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth", "Even So in Christ", "Worthy is the Lamb"
Reflect on what stood out to you in the lyrics.
If you listen to all of these, that counts as an in-depth option. Another in-depth option is to listen to the entire Messiah, about 2 hours long.
5. In-depth option: Spread some Easter joy to those in need by and go with your family to the grocery store to buy donations for the monthly St. Martin's Food Drive. Then, in the above link, state that you picked this option.
Looking Ahead
On April 20, we'll gather virtually to continue unpacking themes related to the Easter Season and Christ's Risen Presence among us.
On April 27, we're planning to gather in Church to conclude the RE year. More details are forthcoming.
As usual, please feel free to contact us with questions, for clarifications, etc.
The Joy of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
God's richest Easter Blessings,
Debbie Lopez
Paul Rubio
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