Kinda Like Purgatory

Breakfast of "Eggs in Purgatory." Thanks to our friend Paul Fahey for recommending traditions to commemorate Harrowing of Hell.

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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A few Sundays back, we attended our first Melkite liturgy! The different customs felt new and yet familiar. There was a deep sense for me of connection with our family lineage, and the word that stood out corresponded with that feeling.

David's family is originally from Damascus, the place where the Christian community grew exponentially through the conversion of St. Paul! The faith community in Damascus has been following Jesus since the very beginning of the church.

The tradition of David's family was originally Eastern Catholic, yet in union with the Pope in Rome. In comparison to our typical Roman Rite Mass, this liturgy was very long for our kids! Plus, it was almost entirely sung, in three languages (English, Aramaic, and Arabic).

Of the few scriptures proclaimed in English, a line from the Acts of the Apostles stood out:

So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

Right now, I'm feeling so grateful as I think about how David's family has passed on the Catholic faith for so very many generations. David's faith is an immense blessing, and it's amazing how integral that gift is in him.

Throughout the week following the Divine Liturgy at the Melkite church, I also leaned back on the Word for the Week, as two of our daughters came down with an illness. The onset of the illness was really alarming!

Our 11-yr-old daughter knocked on my bedroom door the following Monday morning, to tell me she wasn't feeling well. Then she started speaking in a confused manner, and her head hit against the wall. A few moments later, her limbs stiffened and she collapsed!

Thankfully, I was able to catch her fall and lower her to the carpeted floor. Later, as I researched what might have caused this seizure, at first I thought it was heat stroke.

All of the symptoms matched what I found online. She had a high fever, and we had been out in a pool and the sunshine for hours that Sunday after church. I thought surely the symptoms would subside within a day.

But by the following morning, her fever was dangerously high. After a bit more research, I came upon some severe warnings such as: "Heat stroke is very serious; it may be deadly"

As I prepared to bring her to urgent care, I remembered my Word for the Week. That, through faith in Jesus, my family and I would "be saved." And I felt a deep peace in my heart that she was going to be okay.

Sure enough, once we saw the doctor, they confirmed the symptoms were due to the flu. We were able to manage her health at home, and she was back to normal (as normal as an 11-yr-old artist can get) in a few days.

I'm grateful that the word from Acts brought such comfort to a situation that was pretty scary at first. It's amazing to see how God's word is always effective, regardless of the moment or the season.

This last Easter season was a beautiful one for me. But in some ways I felt like I was in a perpetual "Holy Saturday" since the beginning of this calendar year.

Now that Pentecost is upon us, I'm realizing... Holy Saturday is one of the most wonderful moments of the liturgical calendar. Perhaps you've heard it called by its other name, the "Harrowing of Hell." I'm learning lately that it's more than a day of stillness and waiting. It's also the moment when Jesus brings healing, carrying out the plan of salvation, in the "underground," so to speak. That makes me grin.

I'd like to conclude this entry with an excerpt from one of the most beautiful and moving homilies. This year, during Triduum, some friends and I celebrated Holy Saturday in their garden, with a meal called "Eggs in Purgatory," and morning prayer, and the proclamation of this homily.

As we recommence ordinary time, maybe you've also experienced lingering effects of "Holy Saturday," even though the resurrection is here. On the one hand, it does seem kinda like purgatory. On the other hand, we're in good company because something similar happened to the apostles, too. They couldn't fully enter into the gifts of the resurrection until the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

So whether you're receiving consolations of Pentecost, or whether the gifts of the Spirit are taking a while to become visible, I'll invite you to linger in some Holy Saturday sentiments a little longer.

It's actually pretty beautiful, after all.

Excerpt from "An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday."

I command you:
Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld.
Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead.
Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image.
Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person. ...
The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting,
The bridal chamber is in order,
The food is provided,
The everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness;
The treasures of good things have been opened;
The kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.

Amen.

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