Easter Sunday 2020

Scan twitter with #coronavirusbaking and you will likely see pictures of “quarantine cookies” and “isolation loaves.” As the number of families confined to their homes grows, more people are finding refuge in baking. Baking offers a welcome distraction and a sense of comfort. The scents that waft from the kitchen gives one something for which to look forward.

Around this time every year, my mother and I would make Easter Bread. Easter Bread is a specialty bread, popular in Europe, that is made in different shapes and styles in honor of the Easter holiday. I remember the delight of getting my hands all gooey in the dough and the energy it took to knead it.

After separating the dough into balls, it was time to cover it and allow it to rise. After a period of time, that little ball of dough would double in size, pushing up the dish towels covering it. It was almost as if the dough became pregnant. I’ll never forget my mother’s expression at the risen dough. “Ah!” She would gasp with excitement, “God Bless it!” As a child, I wondered how God had time to help our dough to rise, especially at this busy time of year, but I was delighted that divine intervention had somehow decided to mix with our human efforts. The aroma of the bread baking in the oven was heavenly. After the bread had cooled, my mother would give the bread to others.

In the Ukraine, Easter Bread is called Paska, a derivative of Pascha, which means Easter. The word Pascha comes from the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning Passover. As the Jews celebrate the feast of Passover, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, Christians celebrate the feast of Easter, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Passover or Paschal Lamb. Pesach is related to the Greek word Paschein, which means to suffer. This is one reason why Easter Bread is made at this time of year. It is symbolic of the dying and rising of Jesus.

This is one reason ordinary bread is used to make Eucharistic Bread. In order to make bread, seeds must die in the ground to become wheat. Wheat must be ground in order to become flour. In each step of the process, there is a dying in order to become something new. In the Eucharist, ordinary bread is transformed into something extraordinary, the Body and Blood of Christ. By partaking in the Eucharist, we too are transformed. We become pregnant with possibilities, energized to knead the dough of life and to give ourselves away for the life of the world. Amen!

Many recipes for Easter Bread can be found online. Here is an easy one courtesy of my mother, Violet Kuczka:

Easter Bread

Ingredients

· dry yeast, 2 packages

· 2 ½ cups of warm water

· 1 lemon cake mix

· 5 cups of flour +

· 2 eggs

· 1 t lemon flavoring

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in 2 ½ cubs of warm water.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and flour.

3. Beat eggs and add lemon flavoring.

4. Add egg mixture and yeast and water to the cake mix and the flour.

5. Knead well so that the dough is sticky. You may need to add more flour.

6. Let rise until double.

7. Divide into three loaf pans.

8. Let rise in the loaf pans until double.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until firm and lightly golden brown on top.

10. Brush with butter or icing.

The Pew Study

As a journalist working for CNN, I discovered that stories about religion were among the most difficult to cover. The layers of history, the complexities and the nuances which surrounded the issues never seemed to fit well into our neatly-edited sound bites. This is one reason why religion and matters of faith rarely get covered by the mainstream media. Another is that most journalists lack the knowledge needed to adequately cover religion. When reporting on religion, often only part of the story gets told.

If mainstream journalists are challenged to get religion right, pollsters are even more challenged. Many pollsters, like journalists, lack the knowledge needed to ask questions in a way that takes account of the layers of history, the complexities and the nuances of religion. As a result, polls typically tell only part of the story.

As an example, a poll by the Pew Research Center published this month asked Catholics what they believe about the Eucharist:

Which best describes Catholic teaching about the bread and wine used for Communion?

A.    They become the actual body and blood of Christ

B.    They are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus

 The study reported that about one-third or 31% of Catholics chose the first option. Most chose the second option.

In a similar poll conducted in 1994 by the New York Times and CBS News, Catholics were asked what happens to the bread and wine at Mass. The options were the bread and wine “are changed into the body and blood of Christ” or they are “symbolic reminders of Christ.” The results were similar to those in the Pew Study.

 Both polls have caused alarm among church leaders because they suggest a failure in teaching a core doctrine of our faith. However, a look at the wording in the poll tells another story.

Notice that in the possible answers for the Pew Study, option B doesn’t say “They are merely or only symbols,” it simply said symbols. The fact that bread and wine are real symbols that become the actual body and blood of Christ has long been a hallmark of Catholic theology.

 These surveys presume that the two are mutually exclusive. Thus, some if not more respondents may have easily been confused by the choices.

 Bread and wine are fitting symbols not only because Jesus used them at the Last Supper, but because of what they signify. Long before bread can be made, seeds die in the ground to become wheat, and the wheat is ground to become flour.

In a similar way, grapes must be harvested, crushed and pressed before undergoing fermentation. Each stage of the process in the making of both bread and wine includes a dying to become something new. The bread and the wine are powerful symbols of that deeper mystery that we call the paschal mystery.

The point is that the Pew Study, like the one before it, reveals an impoverished view of the Eucharist, not because of the results, but because the questions stop far short of expressing the fullness of what the Eucharist is all about.  

In addition, both the Pew Study and the earlier poll point to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but don’t mention the presence of Christ elsewhere in the liturgy. The Church tells us that Christ is uniquely present in the Eucharist, but that he is really present in the gathered people of God, in the priest-presider and in the Word of God.

To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, "the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross" but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #7

God desires to be one with us and so in the liturgy Jesus communes with us in Scripture, in those gathered to celebrate and in the sacred meal, but the grace of that presence is not meant to stop there. As Pope Francis has said, it is meant to continue through us.

            To nourish oneself of the Eucharist means to allow oneself to be changed by what we receive . . . Each time we receive Communion, we resemble Jesus more; we transform ourselves more fully into Jesus. As the Bread and the Wine are converted into the Body and Blood of the Lord, so too those who receive it with faith are transformed into a living Eucharist.

The entire Mass is about us becoming more Christ-like so that we can be the presence of Christ for the life of the world. That’s not something that could ever be captured by a poll but a mystery that must be lived out in faith.

The Eucharistic Prayer

Much like the Jewish berakah prayers from which they derived, our eucharistic prayers

give thanks and praise for the wonders of God. These prayers form the heart of the Mass. In fact, the word “Eucharist” is a Greek word that means thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the first action in the Eucharistic prayer, but The General Instruction of the Roman Missal tells us that there are eight key actions in which the entire assembly participates when praying the eucharistic prayer:

Thanksgiving

Acclamation

Epiclesis

Institution Narrative and Consecration

Anamnesis

Oblation

Intercessions

Concluding doxology

Thanksgiving

Several prayers in the Mass begin with the priest saying, “Let us pray,” but the words that begin the Eucharistic prayer are “The Lord be with you,” signaling that this prayer is distinct from all other prayers at Mass. Following the dialogue between the priest and the assembly, a prayer known as the preface sets forth particular motives for praising God.

For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh,

and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago,

and opened for us the way to eternal salvation. . .

Preface I of Advent

The coming of Christ, his ministry, his passion and death, his resurrection and ascension, all that he has done to procure our salvation are the main events named in our prefaces. The nearly 100 prefaces are tied to a particular liturgical season or feast.

Acclamation

We join with the angels to offer our praise to God by singing the Holy Holy Holy.

Epiclesis

The term epiclesis comes from the Greek kleo, which means "to call" and epi, which means "forth". The epiclesis in the eucharisic prayer is an invocation calling forth the power of the Holy Spirit to consecrate and transform the gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall. . .

There is another epiclesis in several of our eucharistic prayers which invokes the power of the Holy Spirit for the unity of the Church.

Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will come in power to sanctify and transform the gifts of bread and wine as well as ourselves, for nothing that the Spirit touches remains the same.

Institution Narrative and Consecration

The next action is the Institution narrative and Consecration which comes to us in the form of a story. The priest, acting in the person of Christ, proclaims the words and actions of Christ at the Last Supper. The story we hear is an adaptation of the scriptural accounts of that night.

At the time he was betrayed . . . he took bread and giving thanks, broke it. . .

At this point in our liturgical prayer, we might ask: How does my story relate to this story? Connecting Christ’s dying and rising to our experience gives Christ’s story meaning for us today.

Anamnesis and The Memorial Acclamation

Anamnesis is a Greek word which means memory. We remember God's saving and liberating actions, accomplished in Christ--not as past events--but as events that continue to achieve their effects here and now. We remember how God acted in the past and ask that God act among us now. By singing the Memorial Acclamation, the assembly proclaims its participation in the Paschal Mystery.

When we eat this bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

The Oblation

An early name for the eucharistic prayer was the anaphora, which is Greek for offering.

We offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation

Jesus offered the gift of his life in complete obedience for the sake of our redemption. Jesus continues to offer himself in love to God for all eternity. We participate in this action by offering ourselves in union with the offering of Christ.

Intercession

In the eucharistic prayer, we intercede for the church, the clergy, those who have died, and for those present:

Remember, Lord, your Church . . .Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep . . .

The Concluding Doxology

Doxology means correct praise and serves to bring the eucharistic prayer to a stirring climax. The assembly, through the priest-presider, restates the whole purpose of the eucharistic prayer, namely to offer praise and honor to the Father through Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

Through him, and with him, and in him . . .

We make this statement our own by singing an exuberant Amen, the most important acclamation of the eucharistic prayer. By our Amen, we ratify the covenant begun by God and made new in Christ Jesus.

Although it is the task of the ordained minister to lead the eucharistic prayer he does so on our behalf. As the wording of the prayers reminds us, it is we who praise, we who offer. Everyone present joins Christ in acknowledging the works of God and in offering the sacrifice.

To pray what this prayer intends demands attention to its actions in our daily lives. We must be people who give thanks to God day in and day out. We must be a community who remembers how God has been good to us in the past, and who trusts that God will sustain us here and now. We must intercede for the needs of the world around us. We must remember the death and resurrection of Christ when we experience the pain and the promise of our own living. We join our suffering and hope to Christ as we, like him, offer ourselves to others living through him, and with him and in him.

Doorways

As children of a mother obsessed with having a clean house, we were encouraged to take off our shoes whenever we entered our house. While it was inconvenient for us, it did keep the floors clean and it kept Mom happy, but there was a deeper meaning. The simple ritual of taking off our shoes at the doorway made that threshold a place of transition between the outside and the inside, between the public and the private, between the formal and the familiar. Taking off the protective cover for our feet also marked the doorway as a point of vulnerability.

Doorways and the actions that precede and follow them symbolize thresholds of change. The first time we enter the doorway of our college dormitory or whenever we go through the door of the delivery room to have a child or when we walk under the airplane doorway to fly to a job interview, we discover that doorways are more than what meets the eye. Doorways mark transitions in our lives.

In a similar way, the Church uses doorways to mark transitions in our spiritual lives. The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens in which the catechumens are signed with the cross takes place outside the doors of the church. When they enter the sanctuary, this marks the transition of one who was an outsider to one who is now part of the household of faith. The beginning of the Rite of Baptism for Children also happens at the entrance of the church where the child is named and signed with the cross on the forehead. They then process into the church as a sign that the child is welcomed into the family of God.

In the first form of the Introductory Rites for the Order of Celebrating Matrimony the ministers are to greet the bridal party at the church entrance and lead them in a procession to the altar. Crossing the threshold at this point in one’s life marks the transition from being a solitary individual to being united with another in married love.

In the Order of Christian Funerals, the body or the cremains are sprinkled with holy water at the doorway before being brought into the sanctuary to signify the passage from death to new life.

The Rite of Dedication of a Church begins at the entrance of the church building, marking the doorway as the place of transition between the global community and the community of believers.

These rituals which are performed at the doorway of a church convey a new beginning in the lives of the faithful. The doorways become pivotal thresholds that mark rites of passage of those who transition from outsider to insider, from one state in life to another, from death to new life.

Moving through such doorways takes courage. These thresholds are places of vulnerability and uncertainty. When we go through these doorways, the only thing we know for certain is that life as we know it will never be the same.

The beauty of celebrating these rites of passage in the context of a community of believers is the assurance that we don’t proceed alone. In the Rite of Acceptance, the godparents and the community walk with the catechumens. In the Rite of Baptism for Children, the parents and godparents accompany the child. In the Order of Celebrating Matrimony, the ministers and the bridal party escort the couple. In the Order of Christian Funerals, the family accompanies the body or the cremated remains to the altar, and in the Rite of Dedication of a Church the entire community enters together. The community represents God who journeys with us through every threshold.

May we, assured of God’s presence at every doorway, have the faith to go wherever God calls us.

The Canticle of Zechariah

Summer is officially in full swing! Swimming pools are brimming with children, airplanes are filled with seasonal travelers, and almost every afternoon in Atlanta, a thunderstorm kicks up its heels.

In the midst of Summer Ordinary Time the Church celebrates the Nativity of John the Baptist on June 24, which falls on Sunday this year. We observe the nativity of John the Baptist near the summer solstice, which heralds the beginning of shorter days and longer nights. On the other hand, we celebrate the birth of Jesus around the winter solstice, the beginning of shorter nights and longer days. Thus John’s words which announce the coming of Christ, “He must increase; I must decrease,” are echoed in the cosmos.

To mark today’s solemnity we will sing the Benedictus, also known as the “Canticle of Zechariah,” found in the Gospel of Luke (1:68-79). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, sang this canticle following the birth of his son. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were well past the age of childbearing when the angel Gabriel announced that his wife would bear a son. When Zechariah doubted the news, he was rendered mute, but when his son was born, Zechariah’s eyes were opened, his heart was changed and his tongue was freed to utter these words: 

 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant, even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of his holy covenant and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father, and to grant us that, rescued from the hand of enemies, without fear we might worship him in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  Luke 1:68-79

Zechariah’s prophesy foretold the good news of Christ’s birth to a world that was in chaos and in danger of losing hope. His words offered the certain hope that God keeps God’s promises.

Those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours know these words as an integral part of Morning Prayer. Morning after morning the Church, like Zechariah, declares the faithfulness of God.

When our faith waivers, may these words reassure us of God’s presence and may our tongues be freed to utter a song of profound praise.