March 24, 2024
I was dragged kicking and screaming to an Easter Vigil Mass when I was 10 years old. My Mom knew someone coming into the Church that year and thought it would be nice for us to celebrate this sacred moment on her faith journey. There was just one major problem, at least from my perspective: word-on-the-street from the older altar servers was that this particular Mass was long and boring – with LOTS of readings. Thus, I wanted no parts of it.
But, in my defense, I was 10. I had no choice in the matter, not if I wanted to live to see Easter Sunday morning (and a basket of chocolate and jelly beans). So I went to the Vigil, begrudgingly. And yet, to this day, I must admit that the Easter Vigil Mass was the most beautiful experience of Liturgy I had ever been a part of. The darkened Church and the flickering sea of candlelight, the chanting of the psalms, the ringing of bells, and the evident joy of those becoming Catholic for the first time filled my young heart with an appreciation that this was something special and sacred. It was a realization of what Church is meant to be and a foretaste of what heaven must be like.
This coming Saturday evening (3/30) at 7:30pm, why not consider joining us at Immaculate Conception for our Easter Vigil Mass? We have four new parishioners entering the Church that night, receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist for the first time. As their sisters and brothers in the faith, what a beautiful witness for them to see how grateful we are that they are joining us in full communion at the altar, and how we promise to support them in their journey as Catholic Christians.
And trust me: it really is not as long a Mass as those eighth grade altar servers once claimed it to be!