By Leon Bent –
The Liturgy enshrines the very life of the Church. Through the Easter Fire or the Nocturnal Flame, the priest calls on God to dissipate the darkness of night. The authentic celebration of the Paschal Mysteries, does not consist in having a Mass, however picturesque. Its essence is to keep a Vigil – and the final element of the Vigil is the Mass. Ideally, the Vigil should last, and in the early Church it did so – throughout the night, from dusk to dawn. As long as it is celebrated during the ‘dark hours’, all that is essential is that the symbolism should be preserved.
To grasp this central idea inherent in the Vigil is that, our Christian Pasch has its origins in the Jewish Pasch, which it has superseded. But, precisely because it remains a Pasch, it keeps some of the characteristics of its Jewish roots, especially this feature of the night watch.
The Jews, ever since their original exodus from Egypt, spend this night in watching and prayer, clad in their ‘travelling garments’, with shepherds’ staffs in their hands. Moses ordered them to celebrate the Pasch, in this manner, every year. In this way, they commemorated their liberation in the past, to bring back vividly to their minds, the most important event in their history, namely, their constitution as the Chosen People, of God. An effective means to this end was the Paschal Supper.
But, there was an even more important purpose: They did not only ‘remember the past’, but were waiting for the future. While recalling that God had passed among His people in days gone by, they were consciously waiting for God to pass among his people, yet again! They were on tenterhooks for the “long-promised Messiah”. And, while this expectancy was with them habitually, they consciously exercised themselves in it, and were fully aware and alive when celebrating their Pasch. They invariably hoped that each Pasch would be not merely commemorative, but the real Pasch, the fulfilment, of which the ancient Pasch was only a figure or type.
Now, this consciousness of the Jews, as they celebrated their Pasch, is exactly paralleled in us, the new chosen people, as we celebrate our Pasch. For, we too, are looking back at a day of deliverance which we commemorate; we, too, recall how we became a chosen generation. If we did nothing but that, our Vigil would still be worthwhile.
But, our Vigil has a much deeper significance. It is meant to make us look forward. We too are waiting for the Lord’s coming among the people. We, too, are full of expectancy, “longing for him who is to come”. And, we want to be ready in mind, heart and spirit for the wonderful Exodus, which Jesus’ coming will make possible. Our religion is also forward-looking. Like the Jews, we are anchored in the past, but are intent on the future.
For, the Passover which we look back on – Christ’s Passover – interests us because it will be followed by another Passover of Christ, and also of ourselves in the future. Jesus will one day re-appear in glory at the Parousia. He will, then, claim us as his own, and will lead us to our Promised Land of the Beatific Vision. We shall pass over to God from this vale of tears, this exile, to rejoice for all eternity with Christ, the firstborn among the daughters and sons of humankind.
So, our Vigil is not just a remembrance of the past; still less is it a pious play-acting during which, we pretend to be waiting for Christ to rise from the dead on Easter morning, as if he had not already risen two thousand years ago. Our Vigil is something very real; it is an actual waiting, an actual looking forward to, and preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus.
This longing for the Parousia is an essential element in the true Christian outlook, for it figures very largely in the teaching of the Apostles. We find it in the Epistles of Sts. Peter, John and Jude; the Epistles of St. Paul are just full of it; and the Book of Apocalypse is concerned with nothing else. That the longing for the Parousia had become so enfeebled or even shockingly non-existent, in the minds of modern-day Catholics, is deplorable. We ought not to be bogged down by the expression, “The Last Day will be a time of fear and trembling”.
We, Jesus’ brothers and sisters, who have been redeemed and incorporated into his Mystical Body, we, who are the Chosen People of the New and Eternal Testament, ought rather, to dwell on those words which the Lord will address us with: “Come, you blessed of my Father, take charge of the Kingdom prepared for you.” If we truly love our Master, these words will be etched on our hearts, and will burst forth from our lips, so typical of the early Christians: “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!”
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.