The following article is from the Echoes of Faith® program. Echoes of Faith is a video assisted catechist training program that was developed by the National Conference of Catechetical leadership (NCCL) and RCL • Resources for Christian Living®.

For more information on the Echoes of Faith program, please visit our web site at www.RCLweb.com or our online store, RCL Books and More.

The Paschal Mystery: God’s Blessing
by Catherine Dooly, OP

Paschal mystery is one of those things that we teach and we experience but often cannot describe. The Catechism of the Catholic Church places the Paschal mystery in the context of the biblical understanding of blessing. Think of the last time that you said, “That was such a blessing for me!” When you remember that event or person that was a blessing for you, you will have some idea of why the Catechism offers blessing as a description of Paschal mystery. A biblical understanding of blessing, which includes praise, thanksgiving, and acknowledgement of dependence upon God, presumes that we have experienced and recognized God’s life-giving action in our lives. Blessing, then, is something we have known and acknowledged.

The ongoing story of salvation shows us that “[f]rom the beginning until the end of time the whole of God’s work is a blessing” (CCC, 1079). It is God who blesses all created things, who blessed Abraham, the patriarchs, the people of Israel, all that they experienced from birth to aging to death. God creates in love; God sustains in love. God’s people have received blessings; therefore they are to bless. The people of Israel bless their children; leaders and kings bless their people. Immersed in the blessings from God, the people send the blessings back to the source.

Blessing, therefore, has two aspects. When applied to God, it means God’s initiative, God’s saving action in our lives now. On our part, it designates our own response and surrender to God our Creator in thanksgiving for God’s saving presence with us.

In the liturgy of the Church, God’s blessing is fully made known and communicated. We praise our God, our Father and Creator, as the source of all blessings. We give thanks for God’s merciful and saving actions in our lives.

In the Eucharistic liturgy we celebrate and make present what God has done in Christ, God’s blessing, the Paschal mystery. The Paschal mystery is unique; it is a historical event that occurred in the past but cannot remain in the past. By dying Christ destroyed death; by rising he restored life. Jesus who became incarnate, died, and was raised out of love for us, fills us with many blessings. “Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 1082).

In the Eucharistic liturgy we recall all that God has done for us in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We celebrate the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, a mystery which is the paradigm for the true ultimate meaning of Christian life. Our celebration sends us forth to enter the mystery of Christ’s dying and rising in our daily lives.

The Paschal mystery is the lens through which we view and interpret our human experience. Living the Paschal mystery is a “letting go.” It means coping with the inevitable fact of our own mortality and that of those whom we love. The Paschal mystery means that in the midst of pain and disappointment, there is the possibility of change and new life. The rising of the Paschal mystery means reconciliation, fidelity, forgiveness, and hope in the face of adversity. We die to our enslavements in order to live in the freedom with which Christ has made for us free. The Church proclaims and celebrates this Paschal mystery in the liturgy in order to live from it and carry on God’s blessings in the world.

For Reflection
• What insight have you gained into how we live the Paschal mystery in our daily lives?

Sr. Catherine Dooley is an associate professor of catechesis and liturgy at the Catholic University of America, and a widely published author of texts and resources in liturgy and catechesis.

This article is an excerpt from Echoes of Faith, Liturgy and Sacraments, RCL • Resources for Christian Living, © 1998.