Morning Devotion for Eastertide
Wednesday in Easter Week
April 20, 2022
The Invitatory
Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia."
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
Reading: Exodus 12:40-51
The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the companies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised; no bound or hired servant may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the animal outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. The whole congregation of Israel shall celebrate it. If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the passover to the Lord, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.
All the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. That very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.
Meditation – Michael Palmisano
The service of the Easter Vigil – the Saturday evening preceding Easter morning – is simultaneously the most significant, and the longest service of the entire Church year. During this service the Church recalls God’s saving works throughout history as they are recollected in the Jewish scriptures. The readings reach their fever-pitch when the resurrection Gospel is proclaimed, and the once-darkened church is illuminated with candles as the people proclaim their “alleluias” for the first time since Ash Wednesday. It is undeniably the service of the Church year.
There are an overwhelming 9 lessons and 9 psalms appointed for this service (not including a New Testament reading and the Gospel proclamation). Regarding the function of this excessive number of readings my seminary professor was quite clear. On one hand, the story of salvation history is made quite evident to the people gathered. On the other hand, by their sheer volume, we are meant to get increasingly eager in our waiting for the resurrection of Christ and God’s return to us. As our internal dialogue becomes “How much longer?” we, like the Israelites, are a people who are made to wait upon the Lord. To make our connection to the Israelites even clearer, our rubrics for the service provide us some hints. We are given some leniency with the readings: you must read no less than two Old Testament readings but, one of them must be the crossing of the Red Sea as it is told in the book of Exodus. In this way, there are only two readings required of us at the Vigil: the exodus, and the resurrection.
By the resurrection we have become the beneficiaries of God’s promise made to the Israelites in the book of Exodus – no one will be regarded as “native” or “alien.” When Christ rose from the grave, he himself overcame all violence and all death-impulses which divide and enslave man. By his glorious resurrection we discover that there is no longer room for division in our shared life with God and one another. By the grace of the Son of God we have become one family, with one Father. Though it might not often seem this way in our daily lives, perhaps this is to be expected. The resurrection offers us a new promise that what God had accomplished in Christ will find its final fulfillment on the Last Day. Sometimes our work is to simply wait and long for this Day as we ask: “How much longer?”
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
O God our King, by the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ on the first day of the week, you conquered sin, put death to flight, and gave us the hope of everlasting life: Redeem all our days by this victory; forgive our sins, banish our fears, make us bold to praise you and to do your will; and steel us to wait for the consummation of your kingdom on the last great Day; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
