Florida Catholic | Let Us Rejoice And Be Glad

COMMENTARY

Let us rejoice and be glad

FATHER ROBERT TATMAN | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 03.21.08

Filled by the Spirit, we unite our souls to the incarnate one, Jesus Christ, to be filled with light, guided by wisdom and triumphant in love throughout this blessed day.”

Christ is risen! Truly indeed! The church resounds with great exultation this popular refrain throughout its most holy season. How it rises to envelop all those gathered on this most sacred of days. One of my most memorable refrains is the admired psalm response of this holy season: Haec dies, quam fecit Dominus, alleluia. Exultemus, et laetemur in ea, alleluia. A promise fully realized and translated as “This is the day the Lord has made, alleluia. Let us rejoice and be glad in it, alleluia” (Ps 118:24).

Illustrious is this day throughout the Christian world when we, God’s beloved children, gather in various parishes and communities to re-enact the promise and pledge of Our Lord’s paschal mystery. A day filled with rejoicing, but also repose. To me this day brings the wondrous mystery of an empty tomb, fleeing in a multifarious excitement of fear and joy, only to grab the first person along the way. Possibility and prophecy draw us back to one another in bewildering fascination as we continue to gather, huddled together with the apostles as he, Our Lord, approaches in resplendent glory. Can it be, we whisper; can we be called to this glory? Peace overcomes awe-filled hearts along with luminous light of a path set before us, for “we have beheld his glory, the glory that is his as the only son of the Father” (Jn 1:14).

A new beginning we re-enact this day, which proclaims redemption to each and every person fraught by sin, and the sinner is washed among flowing waters to lead once again a life of abundant freedom and grace. Humanity under the veil of its shameful hiddenness and captivity is torn aside and called to walk among the fields of God’s delight. The darkened naves and sanctuaries become boisterous with the sounds and smell of springtime. Flowers beam with life and light becomes their warmth. The light of Christ leads us into our newfound freedom. To be called an heir to such an event fills our communities with hope with its proclamation of victory. Love, from the author of love, greets each person from near or far with an embrace of friendship. We are now united as his beloved children and heirs to the gift of life eternal.

In this sense, we are a risen people. Filled by the Spirit, we unite our souls to the incarnate one, Jesus Christ, to be filled with light, guided by wisdom and triumphant in love throughout this blessed day. Let us now be led by our oneness of spirit and hope toward that peace which truly sustains us, and humbly stretch forth our souls in the vastness of God’s love before us this day.

Alleluia, Alleluia! Christ is risen; and the stranger is no more.

Father Tatman is the parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Naples.

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