Embrace the Paschal Mystery

Second Sunday of Easter – C

Ask a roomful of average Catholics to describe the paschal mystery, and you’ll get some version of “the passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.” This basic definition is certainly true, but what does it really mean?

The paschal mystery is the foundation of our Christian faith. By our baptism we are immersed into it and are saved by it. Through the celebration of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, we encounter it and are renewed by it to live this mystery in our daily lives. If the liturgy, especially the Mass, is where the paschal mystery is “celebrated and made present” and “its saving effects communicated” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1076), we who prepare the liturgy should have a deeper understanding of it than mere shorthand.

To have total faith in the paschal mystery like Thomas means to die to our own stubborn belief that our perspective alone is the final and complete truth. Share on X

Thomas in today’s Gospel gives us an example of living the paschal mystery. When he encountered the risen Christ, Thomas immediately let go of his worldview and embraced the radical, life-changing paradigm that Jesus’s resurrection revealed.

Although often remembered for his doubt, Thomas should be celebrated for his immediate acceptance of something completely different from what he had held before. To have total faith in the paschal mystery like Thomas means to die to our own stubborn belief that our perspective alone is the final and complete truth.

 

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This post was first published in “GIA Quarterly: A Liturgical Music Journal.”

Image credit: Photo by mauro_grigollo from Getty Images Signature.

Read more reflections on the Sunday readings here:

• Restraint and Generosity
• Going Further
• Can we be salt and light?
• Who is advocating for those in need?
• Bonded to Christ’s Mission