Exaudi - Farewell to Easter

This is the Last Sunday of Easter. The Easter greeting was used for the last time from the pulpit till next Easter. I took down the Easter banners after Church. We'll not use the extended (Celtic) Alleluia till next Easter, nor sing the Taize Kyrie till then. At St. Paul's we have the custom of standing for the Sacrament throughout the Easter days; with Pentecost the kneeling returns. The sense of joy that has characterized these solemn days will remain as we move ahead, but there is something of a wistful leave-taking - the joy moves inside and becomes a force in our lives and is not quite so obviously overwhelming in the Sunday services. We move from the days of "seeing" the Risen One to the days of our life "being hidden with Christ in God." The secret, hidden, inner life now is what the Church will nurture within us. Still the Risen life, but now like the yeast hidden in the bread, it will go to work "raising" our living and our dying up into Him who is the Head of the Body. And the Spirit is the great agent of this leavening: so from "Risen indeed!" we move into "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your divine love."