These past few weeks we have celebrated some very special sacraments and holidays (Easter Sunday, and some First Eucharists, for example), and we have had guests in our Church (or have been guests ourselves elsewhere). Week-in and week-out, however, parish people come through the doors of St. Aidan “for Church.” We are those who come every Sunday, and we celebrate the liturgy together in praise and worship of God.

​This weekend we hear the lovely Gospel image of Jesus presenting himself as the vine, and we, the believers, the branches. (An appropriate image for Spring!) Joined as we are to Jesus (in keeping His commandments and doing our best to live in His love), we are told by Him that we will bear much fruit. And so, we come each and every week to give thanks to God for His great love and mercy. (Don’t you get tired of people who say they won’t come to Church because they “don’t get anything out of it”?) As is always true with God, we all know that if you come here to give, you will receive. (Think of the paradoxes of the Beatitudes!)

The image of the vine and branches may help us to understand why we come here every Sunday to give ourselves back to God, and yet we leave having gained from the Word, the Eucharist and this Community of Christ. This is the Gospel message today: that we are nourished and fed by God through Jesus, and all of us are connected to the life-giving vine of faith and Community.

The meaning of the word ‘nourishment’ according to Webster’s Dictionary is: “to promote the growth of; to furnish or sustain with nutriment; to maintain, to support.” We are given the strength to go out into the world: to live in the love of the Lord and to spread the Good News in all we say and do. The last line of Jesus from the Gospel of St. John says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you will bear much fruit and become my disciples.” There you have it! See you in Church!
Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

There is a story of a tourist in the Middle East who observed with interest how a shepherd drove all his sheep into a sheepfold. The fold was an enclosed wall with only one opening. The tourist noticed that there was no door or gate on the opening. He remarked to the shepherd, “Aren’t you afraid of predators getting in there?” “No,” replied the shepherd, “because I am the door. When the sheep are in for the night, I lie down across the doorway. No sheep can get out except over my body and no wolf or thief can get in except over me.”

​Today is the Fourth Sunday of the Easter Season, well-known as: “Good Shepherd Sunday.” In the Gospel of John today Jesus describes the differences between good shepherds and bad ones. He talks about the true responsibility and concern by a good shepherd: how one will lay down his life for his charges. He uses the image of the good shepherd to describe God’s love and care for us; and speaks of His willingness to lay down His life for us.

The image of the Good Shepherd is one of protection. There is security and trust for all in that Jesus (God) knows us: He knows when we wander, He knows when we do not follow where He leads—and yet He will seek us always, no matter what! St. John tells us in his First Letter: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.” God loves us in his Son, Jesus, as His children, as His flock. The Lord Is My Shepherd! A Good Shepherd!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

We have all probably heard (maybe on television cop shows) that eyewitnesses are unreliable; that what people see with their own eyes is often skewed by some personal perspective or even trauma. Today the Gospel story begins with the two men who recount their journey to Emmaus. How in meeting with Jesus on the road, they then later know Him - see Him - in the breaking of the bread.

The two travelers are in the upper room recounting to the others what occurred, and Jesus appears again. He eats (proving he is not a ghost), opens their minds to the scriptures, and reminds them that they “are witnesses of these things.” We are reminded again today, that like the Disciples, we are witnesses of Christ alive in us, too.  So, in today’s cynical world— full of some media lies, half-truths, and “alternative facts,” how do we convincingly share the truth of Jesus? How do we witness reliably?

We also, like those Disciples, need our eyes opened, our minds opened, in order to witness the truth of Christ well. In order to be believed, we must be believable and authentic. When we experience real conversion events, they take place in our hearts, and we are changed by them—and the change should be obvious to all.

Jesus tells us today in the Gospel of Luke: “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name…” We hear the apostle Peter in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles tell us to “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” The readings today have a “Lenten” feel, an echo of our Lenten journey that led up to the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We know that our faith is a process of conversion and change: faith is a journey of the spirit, the heart and the mind.

The Second Reading from the First Letter of John says it all very simply: “The way that we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments.” So simple, and yet, so challenging...John says it clearly — no lying, no sinning! Otherwise, we do not know Him, and we will not witness Him to the world.

In keeping His Word, in speaking the truth, in acting in the love and the mercy of God we will be believable, truthful—reliable - witnesses of Christ.

Keep Singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Lit from the new fire and blessed at the beginning of the Easter Vigil, the Paschal Candle is an ancient symbol of our risen Savior. The fire itself is blessed (consecrated) before the Paschal Candle is lit from it.

The consecration of fire in the Easter night tells Christians that in time Christ has become new; it tells them that with his resurrection the new year of Jubilee…has begun. With the joyful procession which brings the new fire into the church, we pass over the [threshold] into the new era in the world, God’s epoch. (Aemiliana Löhr)

The flame of the Paschal Candle tells us, echoing the words of the Gospel of John (cf. 1:4), that through Jesus is life, and this life is the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (verse 5). This juxtaposition of light and darkness is symbolic of the struggle between good and evil. Jesus Himself is the true light that drives away death, deception, and the devil.

Wisdom! Let us stand! The light of Christ enlightens all people. Blessed be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who enlighten and sanctify our souls and bodies at all times, now and always and for ever and ever. (Byzantine Liturgy)

Five grains of incense, encased within five wax nails, are placed on the cross of the candle (at the time I took this picture, the candle had not yet been blessed and adorned with these nails. Take a look at the candle in the sanctuary to see them.) These nails signify the wounds that Jesus received in His hands, feet and side when He was crucified. The priest says of these wounds while putting the nails in place: “By his holy and glorious wounds, may Christ our Lord guard us and keep us.”

These wounds do not vanish. They remain with Jesus who repeatedly shows them to his disciples: “Look at my hands and feet; see that it is I myself” (Luke 24:39)…John, more than any other evangelist, attaches importance to Jesus’ wounds. He alone mentions the piercing of Jesus’ side (John 19:34), and he makes it a major element in the appearance stories of the following week [see John 20:19, 25, 27]. By repeatedly displaying and calling attention to the nail marks in his hands and especially his pierced side, Jesus emphasizes the continuity between his present condition and his condition on the cross…the paschal candle…is primarily a symbol of the crucified Christ, the pouring out of whose blood is his glorification and our sanctification. (Patrick Regan)

The incense itself symbolizes the sweetness to us of Christ's five Precious Wounds.

Accept, holy Father, this evening sacrifice of incense. Your ministers offer it to you within this candle, the handiwork of bees, their gift to the Church. (Missal of 1570)

Speaking of bees, the Paschal Candle itself is made of at least 51% beeswax. It is, as we hear in our great victory hymn sung at the Easter Vigil - the Exsultet - “fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.” Here is the prayer of the bee:

Lord, I am not one to despise your gifts. May you be blessed who spread the riches of your sweetness for my zeal…Let my small span of ardent life melt into our great communal task; to lift up to your glory this temple of sweetness, a citadel of incense, a holy candle…molded of your graces and of my hidden work. (Carmen Bernos de Gasztold)

The year the candle was blessed for use is noted, as well as the two Greek letters – Α (Alpha), and Ω (Omega) – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. All creation finds its beginning and end in Christ; He is the divine Lord over history and the world, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13)

The Paschal Candle, as a major liturgical sign, functions in the same way the signs do that we find in the Gospel narratives, to help you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).

David J. Conrad

In 1969, when the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon, President Richard Nixon got carried away and he said it was the greatest day since creation. Well that's a pretty big statement! I read that Billy Graham then reminded him of other great days—like Christmas and Easter… Jesus changed the world so much that time is split between BC and AD. (Don’t let anyone tell you differently…)

​On a more ironic note, there isn't a golfer in the world who shouts, “Thomas Jefferson!” when he misses a putt, or a fan who screams “Mother Theresa” when his pro-player misses the goal, or a plumber who screams, “Mahatma Gandhi!” when he smashes his fingers! While I would prefer that no one use the Lord's name in such a way, even this is a “backhanded” reminder of the Lord's imprint on our world.

Jesus is in a category apart from anybody else in this world. He leaves His imprint on us all, as well. He will change the way we respond because His imprint on our hearts is even more significant than His imprint on the calendar.

The imprint we hear about in the readings today upon the people He encountered is obvious. Today (Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter), in the Acts of the Apostles we hear: “The Community of believers was of one mind and heart…” Wow! St. John tells us that “whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.” Wow! And in the Gospel of John today we hear how Thomas puts his hand in the wounds (the imprint of crucifixion) of Jesus and then believes and receives the peace of Christ. Wow! The experience of belief changes us forever, imprints us forever, for those whose lives are touched by Him. He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc