It Ain’t Over ‘Til the Holy Spirit Sings (The Great 50 Days of Easter)

Celebrant   Alleluia, Christ is risen!

People        The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

With these words, proclaimed in darkened churches all around the world during the Vigil, Easter begins. The lights come up; candles are lit; bells are rung; and our “hallelujah’s” ascend to heaven, like incense – which, incidentally, you’ll also find in many places. With these words, darkness is put to flight, earth is joined to heaven, and life triumphs over death. With these words, Easter begins – not simply the day of Easter, but the reality of Easter – a reality that stretches forward on and on, from Christ’s victory until the end of time.

For Christians, Easter is not just a day: it is a new reality. And for the Church, Easter is not just a day: it is an entire season! From its earliest days, the church has celebrated Easter for an entire season — stretching all the way from Easter day until the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days later. Easter ain’t over ‘til the Holy Spirit arrives!

During thirds weeks, we tend to open our services with more joyful songs of praise, like the Gloria and the Te Deum, rather than the more penitent Kyrie Eleison (“Lord have mercy”). We say all the “Alleluia’s” we can. We might even omit the Confession, sometimes. And at those times we might normally kneel, we stand— a tradition dating at least as far back as the Council of Nicaea (325 CE)!

When you think about it, it is “meet and right so to do” (BCP 333). Easter isn’t a one-and-done affair, a thing that happened a long time that we happen to remember every now and then. It’s all Easter from now on, forever and ever, Amen. As Paul says, “Christ being dead will never die again; Death no longer has dominion over him” (Romans 6:9). And we share in his resurrection’s victory over death. So it’s right for us to draw out our celebration of that victory— which is, after all, still ongoing!

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/great-fifty-days/

– The Rev. Dr. Andrew Benko