A Satisfying Exhaustion

     I am sorry that I missed a posting yesterday.  After the week, I ended up just "vegging" today.

     Last evening in flipping through channels, I ran across the inspiring but mediocre movie "Gettysburg", based on the novel by Jeff Shaara entitled "The Killer Angels".  I remember watching the movie a number of times over the years, and finding myself exhausted at the end.  The battle lasted three days, the movie lasted over four hours.  It consists of a number of personal stories interspersed with unrelenting gunfire.  But the loyalty of the men for Lee, the friendship between Lewis Armistead and Winfield Hancock (on opposing sides), the courage of a school teacher from Maine called Chamberlain, and the faithfulness to Lee of Longstreet, inspired me and made the watching well worth while.

     One of my favorite stories is the Tolkien trilogy "The Lord of the Rings", a daunting task to read, and a marvelous experience to watch in the movies of recent years.  Each movie (in its shortened, commercial form) is three hours (four in the uncut versions, which I recommend).  Put the three together and you have an epic 12 hours.  A story of courage in the midst of tremendous evil and darkness, it is the account of Good triumphing over the Dark Forces of Evil.

    Each of these experiences leaves me tired, spent, exhausted.  Yet the stories are worth hearing, seeing, repeating despite the effect.

     These last few days saw a story told/repeated that is epic in its scope and essential to our life.  It is the story of the life, passion and death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.   Our schedule was hectic, our services very long, our energies were spent, and we (I speak for myself) were exhausted ... but deeply satisfied and inspired.

     To celebrate these mysteries requires patience and prayerfulness (it took us just over two hours seventeen minutes for the Vigil).  It does no good to rush or to cut corners.  Some do.  I have found it unwise to do so.   At the Easter Vigil we read all nine readings (which at that late hour was another challenge), but how can you "readers' digest" the story?  We welcomed a young man named Shane into the Family of Faith through Baptism, received three others - Jodie, Ryan and Jonathan - into full communion with the Catholic Church, confirmed and brought them to the Table of the Lord for Eucharist.  We sang our Alleluia!  On Easter morning we dealt with a packed church at both Masses and prayed that it could be like that every "little Easter", every Sunday.

     Add to that the Chrism Mass on Thursday morning, the Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening, and our pilgrimage to three churches for prayer that night.  And on Friday, the Irwin Community Prayer Breakfast at 7:30 am, a funeral liturgy at the funeral home at 11 am, the Celebration of the Lord's Passion at 1 pm, our final Fish Dinner in the late afternoon and a prayerful experience of Tenebrea at 9 pm.

     What you have is a contented and joy filled exhaustion in the grace of the Lord.  That, at least, is my experience.  Onward now in our Fifty Days of Easter!