May 2014 – A Seminarian’s Letters Home

To the membership of Circle of Faith Parish:

Greetings to you all from Evanston, IL! And, by the way, “Alleluia, Christ is risen!” It feels so good to be able to say that after a long season of leaving the alleluia behind. It’s also hard to believe that my first year of PhD studies is nearly over. As most of you have heard by now, I will be returning to Circle of Faith for a while this summer, to help out while Pr. Anthony is gone. I’ll greatly look forward to seeing you all again!

During the next fifty days, we’ll be hearing the phrase, “Alleluia, Christ is risen!” a lot, and will answer with the words, “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!” We call this the Easter acclamation. But does anybody know why we say it? It’s not just to celebrate fifty days of resurrection after a long Lenten fast.

In the earliest days of the Church, which we’ll hear a lot about as we read the Book of Acts during this season, Christians were persecuted. So, they developed secret codes and symbols to identify themselves to each other, some of which en-dure to this day. The best known one is the sign of the cross. The Easter acclamation was the password to identify oneself when coming to a house where a group of Christians were meeting for Eucharist. You would knock on the door, and be challenged with the first line. If you answered correctly, you were recognized and welcomed. Easter then grew into a time during which we talked about living the Christian life, bearing the sign of the Crucified One, and wrestled with the ques-tion of what one had to do to gain access to God’s mysteries. Thankfully, we also came to realize that we don’t need to do anything to gain entry to God’s love. That’s the whole point of Easter. The stone is rolled away, and the Risen One comes out to us. So, for fifty days, let us keep that joyful feast!

As we travel through Eastertide, let us pray for God’s blessing, using these words:

O God our shepherd, you know your sheep by name, and lead us to safety through the valley of death. Guide us by your voice, that we may walk in certainty and security to the joyous feast prepared in your house, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. [ELW, Easter 4A]

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your fellow member and pilgrim,

Carl P. Rabbe, M.Div.