TOS057 Basics of Faith V: Basics of the Paschal Mystery For audio TOS057: Basics of Faith V – Basics of the Paschal Mystery | Listen Notes
What does the Paschal Mystery mean for us? Each person’s life is intimately affected. Join Patti Brunner and Truth of the Spirit to explore Basics of Faith with the Basics of the Paschal Mystery. Each of the Gospel writers agree: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Baptism is the incorporation into the life of the risen Christ. The suffering servant, Christ, can relate to all suffering by mankind. The kingdom on earth as it is in heaven is shown to us with the glorification of Christ’s body at the resurrection from the dead. Salvation is the gift of the paschal mystery.
Salvation is free. It is freely given. It is a gift purchased by the blood of the innocent and blameless Lamb of God, sacrificed to reunite God and Man. The Eucharist, the fruit of salvation, is the reuniting of God and man intimately and completely. It is the completion of the resurrection, the sign of the reunification of God and man and the tangible presence of the almighty God among us and within us. Catechism # 1394 says, “Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit.”
Blog
Hello, welcome to Truth of the Spirit. My name is Patti Brunner. Today we will discuss Basics of the Paschal Mystery; if that is not a familiar term for you, it is celebrated as the holiest season of our liturgical year which we Catholics call Holy Week. Remembering the Paschal Mystery is not limited to Holy Week. But it’s easiest to explain what it is by walking you through the celebrations of that holy time of year. Each time we celebrate the mass or even look at a crucifix we are reminded of the time of the Last Supper, Good Friday, and Easter’s Resurrection.
When we use the word “Paschal” we’re talking about Easter Triduum starting with Holy Thursday when Jesus and his disciples were gathered together for the Last Supper. For supper they ate the ‘Paschal Lamb”. The Lamb was prescribed by God to be eaten in Exodus 12:5-14 as part of the remembrance of the Hebrew or Jewish feast of Passover. The Paschal Mystery continues with Good Friday and the crucifixion, when Jesus died on the cross, suffering greatly to pay the price of our sin. After Jesus died on the Cross and was buried, he came back to life on Easter morning when Jesus rose from the dead. We call this the ‘Resurrection’. “Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the “Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities,” just as the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of sacraments” (the Great Sacrament). The resurrection is key to understanding the suffering of Christ because the death of sin was overcome and everlasting life restored.
In the bible there are four Gospels that tell of Christ’s life and teaching and each of the four Gospels spend a great amount of time sharing the paschal mystery. Matthew, Mark & Luke each take 3 chapters to tell the paschal narrative. John’s Gospel takes a differing point of view because the general story is well known by his listeners. 7 chapters starting with Chapter 13, it is actually 1/3 of John’s Gospel, center on the three days of the paschal mystery plus there is Chapter 6 where he teaches about the Eucharist. The other gospels teach about the Eucharist within the paschal season. John stresses the understanding of the actions of Jesus while Luke shows the fulfillment of the foreshadowing; the introduction of this Gospel in the NAB tells us that Luke is a genuine historian, exact and orderly (Luke 3:1-2). His readers were the Gentile convert world, especially those converted by Paul. The main theme of the Gospel of Luke is the universality of redemption. Matthew was bent, not so much on giving us the story of the Savior, as on proving that Jesus was the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament, writing to the Jews. Each of the writers agree: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
The Resurrection is key. As I said in the podcast TOS055 on Mass Postures, when we stand at mass it is a direct sign of the risen Christ. Remember that the next time you stand up at mass. You are standing with the risen Christ. We are witnessing that someday we will rise with Christ when he comes again. What does this paschal mystery mean for us? The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph # 654 tells us that the Paschal Mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is, above all, justification that reinstates us in God’s grace, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace.
Each person’s life is intimately affected. Our Baptism is the incorporation into the life of the risen Christ. Why do we need this? The effect of sin, when Adam and Eve sinned, was a separation of God and man. All mankind! Nothing we can do by ourselves could bring us back. The Lord spoke through the ages, we see this in the Old Testament, yet the people did not follow his commands. They could not reconnect with God Spirit to spirit. God promised the Messiah. And Jesus, true God and true man was born to reconnect us body and spirit to God. Jesus directly taught the apostles three years yet even they could not reconnect until the sacrifice of Jesus brought us back to God. The apostles could not comprehend the meaning of his death until Jesus opened their minds after the resurrection.
Through his sacrifice on the cross Jesus overcame the effect of sin. He then gave the Gift of the Great Connector, the Great Communicator; the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us this gift of the Holy Spirit that we might directly receive his Love and witness his Glory to all we meet. The availability of the sacraments is tied to the coming of the Holy Spirit which was sent only after the chasm was bridged by Christ. During his ministry, he prepared the apostles to recognize his presence with them after the Resurrection. Sacraments are the outward signs of Christ’s presence with us, instituted by Christ to give grace. [CCC 1210] “The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life. You can check out the Truth of the Spirit Series: “ Eucharist and Other Sacraments”, podcasts #37-43 for more on the Sacraments. Salvation is the gift of the paschal mystery. Each sacrament, especially the Eucharist, is the fruit of that gift. … Think about that …Salvation is free. It is freely given. It is a gift that bears fruit. Tell the next person you see the good news: “Salvation is free.” Salvation is a gift purchased by the blood of the innocent and blameless Lamb of God, sacrificed to reunite God and Man.
The Eucharist, the fruit of salvation, is the reuniting of God and man intimately and completely. It is the completion of the resurrection, the sign of the reunification of God and man and the tangible presence of the almighty God among us and within us. Body & Spirit! The sacrament of the Eucharist, the taking and receiving of the Body and Blood of Jesus, has continued through the years following Jesus’s example and command, following his death and resurrection. He is truly present; He is the sacrifice that allows the recipient to commune with God, Himself. The intensity of this moment can only be understood by receiving the fullness of truth. Tremendous grace pours into your very being as you are joined together as one. Jesus becomes one with us and we became one with Jesus.
The moment of the sacrifice on the cross and the moment of receiving Holy Communion—is the same eternal moment. Let me say that again. The moment of the sacrifice on the cross and the moment of receiving Holy Communion—is the same eternal moment. It is the journey of faith that leads his People to the understanding of this moment in the kingdom of God. It is comparable to a moment in the Garden of Eden. In the life to come it is comparable to a moment in heaven itself. The Communion of God and man is the act of creation itself untainted by sin; without separation caused by the effect of sin. Consider this: the eternal moment of communion and creation—it is the same eternal moment.
As we hear the passion narrative of Christ from the Gospels read on Palm Sunday and Good Friday we recognize and we realize that the suffering servant, Christ, can relate to all suffering by mankind and thus reconciles us with God’s love when we feel abandoned by God. When we call to mind the passion of Jesus our hearts break when we realize how much he loves us. He who knew no sin became sin for our sakes. We look past the brutality—it is sin that punishes the body unto death. Repentance brings life. Jesus gave us the gift of salvation. Salvation was won as death, the punishing death imposed on the innocent Son of God, was overcome by submission and obedience. And so we take heart and rejoice. We find joy in the suffering—this is how evil is overcome: Not that sin and suffering is good—but that the endurance without turning to the evil one for relief answers the Father with trust.–that Jesus endured each man’s sin/suffering so that once and for all death–eternal death—could be overcome. “By His stripes we are (were) healed.” [Isaiah 53:5] Each lash tested the obedience of Jesus. Each act of submission overcame sin and finally death.
We hear Christ on the cross begin the Psalm 22 verse one: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” The psalm continues with the points of suffering that Jesus endures on the cross but Psalm 22 ends in hope: “For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; all who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage and I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.” Jesus was crying out in fulfillment of the promise in the prayer of hope. And so we dare to proclaim the deliverance, our salvation. Christ was not abandoned as he suffered and died for us. Christ’s prayer from the Cross speaks to the heart when we realize that in the course of time we shall understand momentary feelings of separation —to know that we have never been abandoned or separated except by the barrier of the hardness of our own hearts caused by personal sin.
The infinity of our salvation met with time on the cross. The sins of the world – for all time – melted into its formation. This cross appeared to be made of natural material: the wood of the cross—the ‘tree’ of life; but know this, it was truly formed by the sin of man. Christ paid the price, the wage for our sin. The fountain of life and the river, which thus flows, come from the same cross. That is, the redemptive graces that flow from the sacrificial nature of death on that cross has brought salvation to all generations – to all mankind. Catechism #272 explains that: “Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus “the power of God and the Wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” It is in Christ’s Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth “the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe.”
The kingdom on earth as it is in heaven is shown to us with the glorification of Christ’s body at the resurrection from the dead. Catechism #646 says: “Christ’s Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter. These actions were miraculous events, but returned by Jesus’ power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. Christ’s Resurrection is essentially different. In his risen body he passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus’ Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is “the man of heaven.”
What about this body in a glorious state? Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener when she saw him outside the tomb on Easter morning. He walked into a room with a locked door when he visited the disciples in the upper room. As he walked with the disciples to Emmaus, leaping through time and space, he was unrecognizable until the breaking of the bread. It’s a little beyond our understanding. Doubting Thomas, the apostle, said he wouldn’t believe that Jesus had risen unless he put his hand in Jesus side where the lance struck and in his hands that were nailed to the cross. And so Jesus appeared again and showed him his hands and side. The wounds of the Cross are all that remain of his torment. It is these wounds that welcome us once again into paradise; the sign of the price paid for our freedom. The complete healing of bruises, and swelling, all point to what is to come to all who call the name of the Lord as Lord of their life.
Let me go through Holy Week again for you as we celebrate it fully here at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Sunday before Easter Sunday, we celebrate Palm Sunday. The passion narrative is read from the Gospel starting with a triumphant entry into Jerusalem by Jesus. In that part of the Gospel, people lined the road waving palm branches and sang, “Hosanna to the King!” In the same way, on Palm Sunday my pastor blesses the palms as we stand in the courtyard, and that’s where the Gospel, that first Gospel is read, then we process, singing hosanna, with Palm Branches into the church. Since the palms are blessed, we take them home after the service. I like to fold mine into a cross. You can return them the following year to be used to make ashes for the next Lent’s Ash Wednesday.
On Thursday night, Holy Thursday, we recall the last supper, the first Eucharist celebrated by Jesus. The remembrance of the sacrifice of the paschal lamb on first Passover of Moses foreshadows the saving action of the sacrifice of Jesus as the perfect Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Isn’t that something! Jesus isn’t imitating the Passover that Moses did, Moses is foreshadowing the sacrifice that Jesus will do. The Gospel of John is recalled as representatives of our parish come forward for our priests to ceremoniously wash their feet. Jesus washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper. He showed them the need to be humble servant leaders. Pope Francis, soon after he was named Pope in 2013, washed the feet of prisoners on Holy Thursday at the Casal Del Marmo. Also on Holy Thursday, the oils blessed by our Bishop at the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral are carried up by representatives of the parish and offered to the priest. Every priest in our diocese is called to the Cathedral early in the week to witness the blessing and to bring the blessed oil back to each parish. Dioceses that cover less geographical area than Arkansas’s diocese does, for example the Diocese of St. Louis, have the Chrism Mass the morning of Holy Thursday. These oils are then kept in the Ambry; we have a special place in the wall of our church next to our holy water font until they are needed. The oil for anointing catechumens is used for blessing and exorcism to prepare catechumens for baptism, the oil of Sacred Chrism is used for baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordinations and the consecration of altars, and the oil of the sick is used for the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Holy Thursday is the first service of the Triduum, 3 days combined into a single liturgy. At the end of Thursday evening, the area is stripped and the Eucharist is taken from the tabernacle and moved to another location.
On Good Friday we hear the passion narrative from the Gospel of John. We are also given the opportunity to venerate the wood of the cross upon which Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that restored us to intimate relationship with God. He paid the price for our sins. Jesus offered himself on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. It is this sacrifice that is made present in an “unbloody” way in the eternal moment of the consecration. Remember the tabernacle is empty and so is the holy water font. These symbolize the absence of life as Christ gives his life on the cross. We feel the emptiness as we note the empty tabernacle. This is only day of the year our Tabernacle is empty–thus symbolizing death and separation from God. On this day we do not say the Eucharistic prayers “This is my Body” yet we feel it in our hearts and in our emotions as we receive his body from hosts consecrated the night before. There is no mass on Good Friday; this is a continuation of the Thursday service. CCC #1394: “Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit.”
On Holy Saturday, the Church keeps watch, preparing to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in the sacraments and awaiting his return in glory. It is the turning point of the Triduum, the Passover of the new covenant, which marks Christ’s passage from death to life. Therefore, the Easter Vigil does not correspond to the usual Saturday evening Mass and its character is unique in the cycle of the liturgical year.” The Easter Vigil starts on Holy Saturday evening as the world gets dark. It begins in the courtyard as a new fire is blessed and the Easter candle is lit from the new fire. The Easter candle is brought into the darkened church and is then placed into the water, the freshly replaced water, in the font to show the life giving water of Baptism that now flows through the power of the resurrection from the dead. It thus becomes Holy Water.
A few candles are then lit from the Easter candle and spread throughout the church symbolizing how we bring light of Christ to others. The sharing of the Easter flame reveals how the light of Christ is passed person to person throughout all of history. To be a disciple we must make disciples. Nothing is taken away from our light as we share it with others. We can see that clearly. The Christ we receive in the Eucharist is the same, also, throughout the ages. The liturgy then continues as several readings from scripture explain salvation history.
The Baptism ritual begins with the Profession of Faith and the Baptismal Promises triple immersion or pouring water over the catechumen’s head with words, “…[name]…, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Thus by baptism men are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ: they die with Him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him.
Those baptized are dressed in a white garment and given a candle showing the light of Christ that has now come into their lives. Our pastor then anoints them with the holy Chrism and the sacrament of Confirmation. After the Eucharistic prayer of the mass, First Holy Communion is given as all are one in Christ –body and spirit. As the cup is shared- we are especially aware of the Precious Blood of Christ, shed for us. And, as the Easter vigil reveals: He is Risen!
“Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays, and Easter Time is the most important of all liturgical times. Easter is the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. It is characterized, above all, by the joy of glorified life and the victory over death, expressed most fully in the great resounding cry of the Christian: Alleluia! All faith flows from faith in the resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14) Paul says to the Corinthians in chapter 15 of 1st Corinthians. He is Risen! He is Risen!
The resurrection of Christ is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ (638). “a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross: Christ is risen from the dead! Dying, he conquered death; to the dead, he has given life. CCC #1086 “Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might preach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his death and resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan and from death and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father.
At the Easter Vigil or on Easter Sunday we welcome all those who, continuing their journey begun through Baptism, have discovered that the fullness of faith is available in the Catholic Church. Men and women baptized in other denominations after spending almost a year preparing, are now accepted into the sacramental fullness of Eucharist and Confirmation given to us through the Paschal Mystery.
And so, each Sunday of the year is now a reminder of Easter Sunday. I told you, Easter is the most important liturgical event. So important that we celebrate it every week! We celebrate the moments at the Last Supper, and the moments of the Resurrection. We celebrate that the moment of the sacrifice on the cross and the moment of receiving Holy Communion— they are the same eternal moment! Every Eucharist is a participation in the Paschal Mystery.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. We invite you to subscribe to easily listen to Truth of the Spirit podcasts and to look on my website, PatriarchMinistries.com to find the written details. The Basics of Faith series will continue next time with the Laity’s Role as Priest, Prophet and King. Until then, remember, there’s more, with the Holy Spirit, there is always more! May the Lord bless you and keep you. Amen!
Discussion Questions:
1. What is your favorite part of celebrating the Paschal Mystery?
2. Do you know anyone who joined the Church at Easter? Share the experience.
3. Discuss your reaction to the teaching tonight
References:
Exodus 12:5-14 Paschal Lamb
CCC 1169 Feast of feasts, solemnity of solemnities
Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 6, 13-21 Gospels’ Paschal Mystery
CCC 654 Paschal mystery -2 aspects
CCC 1210 Seven Sacraments
CCC 1366, 1382 Eternal moment gift of Salvation
Isaiah 53:5 “By his stripes”
Psalm 22 “My God, my God”
Psalm 91 “My God in whom I trust”
CCC 272 Suffering conquered evil
CCC 646 Resurrected body
John 20:13-16 Mary and resurrected Jesus
John 20:19-20 Apostles and resurrected Jesus
Luke 24:15-16, 30-32 Emmaus road disciples wand resurrected Jesus
John20:24-28 Thomas and resurrected Jesus
Pope Francis Casal Del Marmo
CCC 1237 Oil of Catechumens
CCC 1241 Sacred Chrism
CCC 638 “Resurrection of Christ is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ
CCC 1086 Preach the Gospel
Vatican II SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM 6
CCC 790 Body of Christ
CCC 1359 Eucharist: Sacrament of Salvation
