Do you ever find yourself needing a reminder about some of the basics of our faith? As I entered into Holy Week this year, I found myself trying to comprehend the profundity and mystery of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. In the Gospel of John, during the Last Supper, Jesus asks the disciples the question, “Do you realize what I have done for you?” (John 13:12). My honest answer was, “No, how can I? It all seems so big and beyond me and hard to grasp. How can I truly know what you have done for me?” And to be even more honest, I didn’t really expect to come to any kind of conclusions.
On Wednesday night of Holy Week, I took part in Tenebrae, a service that draws participants into the darkness of the tomb. Excerpts from the book of Lamentations were chanted, psalms were sung, and readings were proclaimed that focused on the events in the days to come. As the service proceeded, candles on the altar were extinguished and lights were dimmed, until only one candle remained lit, the candle representing Christ. Then, in a dramatic moment, the Christ candle was removed from the altar and hidden and we were all left in utter darkness. Then a loud noise, or strepitus, of banging on wood, echoed through the chapel, symbolizing the earthquake after Christ’s death. After a time of quiet, the Christ candle was returned to the altar, still burning in all its glory.
To be honest, I was fairly distracted and anxious throughout much of the ceremony, but as I sat there in the darkness looking at that one candle still aglow, the Lord spoke very gently to my heart. He simply reminded me that his light never went out, even when he descended into Sheol, a place of still darkness after death. His light overcomes the darkness (cf. John 1:5)! His life and light overcomes the death and darkness that was meant for me.
The Lord continued to unfold and concretize this grace for me as I entered into the Easter Vigil. It began in the dark with the lighting of a single candle, the Paschal Candle, that represents Christ. Then the Easter Proclamation was sung. Towards the beginning, it beautifully announces, “Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all the corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.”
After the homily, I watched a young man be baptized. His whole person glowed after he emerged from the font! Then the altar server lit a small candle from the Paschal Candle. As this man’s godparent handed him the candle, the priest said the words that we all hear after we are baptized, “Receive the light of Christ.”
And so, the Lord reminded me what he has done for me and for all of us in baptism. He has given us his light, so that we “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). It really is that simple, though it doesn’t make it any less profound. In my ponderings, I was trying to make it too complicated and get into the nitty gritty of what he did for me. And, while that can be important, the heart of what matters is that I recognize and receive his incredible love and sacrifice for me so that I might not die but live with him eternally!
- Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, T.O.R.
