The Long Version

We've moved again into the Easter Triduum, marking the institution of the Eucharist, which flows to and from the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. For me, that means long hours at CCM, not in a bad way. Thursday night, however, after the Mass of the Lord's Supper, after we had processed the Blessed Sacrament back to the Chapel, where He remained until midnight, after we had stripped the altar in the PC, I decided I needed some time not at work this weekend.

So I went over to Percy's for the bit of time before midnight. One of his roommates asked what I was up to for the weekend. I answered with the truth. Then he asked me a question that threw me off guard: "What is Easter about?"

He is from India, so it makes sense that he has a vastly different cultural knowledge. I answered the way I always do when caught off guard : I stumbled, I stuttered, and I bought more time. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"

He asked for the short one first, then the long one. The short version : "It's the day when Jesus rose from the dead." The long version was still difficult. I waffled through an explanation that floated around undeveloped ideas of the Eucharist and salvation. I started to tell it in chronological order -- Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and then Holy Saturday -- but the telling of the story of Jesus got mixed up with the telling of the traditions of the Church, because I wasn't sure really what I was trying to say.

The words of 1 Peter kept flitting through my head : "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." I know my faith pretty well (though not as well as I'd like; hence grad school next year), but I had a hard time putting it into words for someone who described themselves as knowing very little about Christianity.

I also know that the story began way before Holy Thursday. The long version doesn't start with Holy Thursday, or even Palm Sunday. It doesn't start with the baptism or ministry of Jesus. It doesn't start with the Annunciation. If you want to the long version, the whole story, you have to go back to Genesis. You have to go, as the Church does at the Easter Vigil, to the time when, "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The whole story follows the fall of man and God's work throughout history to save us. It reaches a high point with the Cross and Resurrection, but it is still going on today. The long version is longer, I think, than Percy's roommate wanted.

The roommate also asked me what people do, for example fireworks. Percy explained that this giant rabbit comes around with eggs... I explained that no, we didn't have fireworks. For me, the important parts happen in church and with my family. I have to admit, in contrast to the Christmas hype, I don't understand why Easter gets the cultural short shrift. While I am glad that consumerism has not co-opted this Holy Day, I do wish we had fireworks.