Update+
Volume 2, Number 20 March 31, 2021
At this time...(36)
The Sacred Triduum raises up the primary symbols of our faith – bread and wine, water and fire – LIGHT. We come to the Easter Vigil this year with a particular understanding of the lighting of the paschal candle. It has been a long Lent – a long year – and we are eager to give thanks for the light of Christ which brings salvation. And yet, even this year, there will be a significant element missing from our Easter Vigil. We will not be able to hold our own candles and spread that light to our brothers and sisters.
For many years, I was privileged to be in the sanctuary for the Easter Vigil. It is an awesome experience to hold one’s candle and look out over the congregation as the light spreads and we all become one in Christ. The sum is greater than its parts. The liturgy “effects what it signifies.”
We must wait and hope that in another year we might experience the fullness of this symbol. Meanwhile, let us continue to pray that we might have “the wisdom to do what is right and the faith to endure this hour.” We join with our Jewish brothers and sisters in praying: “Next year in Jerusalem!”
EAM
On Saturday March 13th the first of our Spring Confirmations took place at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton. This spring we have over 1000 candidates who will receive Confirmation representing 73 different parishes throughout the Diocese of Worcester; 40 of which will celebrate at the Cathedral of St. Paul.
Needless to say, with the numbers just mentioned, the ORE staff who is overseeing Spring Confirmations (assigning seats, preparing name badges, programs, tickets, etc.) will be quite busy from now until June 14th when our last Confirmation liturgy takes place.
Below are a few reminders regarding Confirmation for those parishes scheduled this spring:
- Please make sure to register your candidates and return your “Confirmation Liturgy Form” by the deadline assigned to your scheduled celebration. The online registration link for liturgies taking place at St. Paul’s Cathedral is:
- Be sure to be in touch with Tina Romeo at the ORE to update us on any changes as they occur.
- Please make sure to rehearse your candidates—the ORE will not be able to review responses with candidates as in previous years due to the Cathedral downstairs hall being closed during the pandemic. It is important that their responses are conveyed loudly and clearly.
- Please see pdf below for important information to convey to your candidates.
- Allow those candidates who will proclaim a reading to rehearse using the microphone in the parish. Provide coaching so as to help them to enunciate and read slowly.
- Advise candidates to put on robes as they exit their vehicle. Leave plastic covers and hangers in their vehicle. Make arrangements with candidates as to the best time to return robes to the parish after the ceremony.
- The Cathedral confirmations will be ticketed with each candidate receiving 5 tickets. DVD’s may be purchased of the liturgy and it will also be available for live-stream viewing at:
- Darleen Farland will hold zoom meetings for Catechetical Leaders/Confirmation Coordinators of those parishes scheduled at the Cathedral to review specifics of the Confirmation liturgy. She will be in touch a week or so before the Confirmation.
SAVE THE DATE!
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Level I -- Part I course
June 21-26, 2021 (Monday – Saturday)
More after Easter!
More after Easter!
All of us at the ORE, Tina, Darleen, Mary Pat and Liz, join our voices to that of Rita Thiron, Executive Director of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC) who sent the following to the membership.
An Easter Message of Hope
It seems we live in a world filled with so many contradictions:
- senseless mass shootings, yet people raising their voices for gun control;
- millions of Covid deaths worldwide, but the hope of broader vaccine distribution;
- the storming of a Capitol and a Constitution that prevailed;
- injustices caused by racism, but an awakening to human dignity;
- people prosecuted for their faith who welcome a Pope who travels to support them.
- in the same season, nature produces deadly storms, but also budding flowers and trees.
Too often, we look at all of it through the lens of the evening news or the latest social media post, but God grants us the wisdom to look at all of it through the lens of Scripture and the eyes of faith.
Even the liturgies of these holy days appear to be filled with contradictions:
- the sharing of the meal and the betrayal in the garden;
- the violence of the Passion and the joy of the Resurrection;
- the denial by Peter and Christ’s three-fold command to “feed my sheep;”
- the darkness of the tomb and the dawn of finding it empty;
- the renunciation of sin and the profession of faith;
- sacred silence replaced by songs of “Alleluia;”
- and the penitence of Lent giving way to the fifty days of Paschal joy.
And in the Paschal Mystery, we recognize our own dying and rising giving thanks to God for the gift of salvation. And I thank you for all you have done to serve God’s people in these challenging times. Thank you for serving your assemblies – within the walls of a church and within the walls of their homes. Thank you for preparing and celebrating the Church’s Liturgy in all its fullness. Thank you for reminding us -- through rituals and symbols, Word and Sacrament that Christ has conquered sin and death, that God’s mercy is everlasting, and that the Spirit always gives hope to a weary world. In a time seemingly filled with contradictions, may your life always be illumined by moments of hope, and the certain knowledge of the Resurrection.
May you and yours have a blessed Triduum!