"O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face; hide not your face from me, alleluia." - Entrance Antiphon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
This Entrance Antiphon is quite unlike the other antiphons we have experienced and mediated upon throughout the Easter Season. In fact, it seems to bear quite a resemblance to the Entrance Antiphons we encountered throughout Lent, with the exception of the Alleluia of course. Instead of cries of rejoicing, we have pleas for assistance and protection. We have a request at the end that the Lord would not abandon us. Why this sudden change in thought, without the change of season? What does this mean?
Alas, while we are still in the Easter Season, the Church has undergone a drastic change! Her Divine Lord, Who we so intimately encountered throughout the forty days following Easter Sunday has ascended. He no longer dwells visibly among the Church, and this does cause a certain sorrow in us, for we are no longer able to be so privileged as such souls as Mary and Joseph, who were able to bear the Lord in their arms, or St. John the Baptist, who beheld him with his own eyes and saw and heard God the Father Himself attest to His Divinity and mission, or the glorious Apostles and holy women who walked with Him on His journeys and heard His teachings.
But this sorrow is not only balanced, it is outweighed by the joy and triumph we feel through the Ascension, as we shall explain shortly. The Entrance Antiphon, then, does not bear the same sentiment as those of Lent, but it instead is one of trusting confidence, and thus it continues to end with that word of joy, "alleluia." If we recall the words of our Lord, "If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I (John 14:28)," and, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7)." This day is given to us, then, to recall the fact that our Lord has ascended but the Holy Spirit has come in His place, and thus our focus shifts.
The Liturgical Seasons in which we commemorate the Mysteries of our Redemption are drawing to a close, and we will soon enter into Ordinary Time, in which we focus on our own spiritual lives and our vocations as Christians in regards to evangelizing the world. In one week, we shall celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit was poured forth on the Church and the Apostles began to preach Christ to all the nations. Ordinary Time is very much a season in which we are to focus and meditate on our own evangelization.
We may notice how beautifully the Liturgical Year is arranged. About a third of it is given to meditation on the Mysteries of Christ's life and specific and focused prayer, while the rest is more general, and this may be seen as a reflection of the Christian Life. There are certain practices and devotions every Christian shares, points where they come together, but each soul's spiritual life is also unique and we are all called to different works and missions. After meeting together, primarily in the Liturgy, where we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we go forth to evangelize to the nations, each according to his or her own calling.
And as the ending to these two periods, we are given these ten days between the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost to examine our lives, meditate upon all the events we have celebrated, and to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit to assist us in our lives of evangelizing to all nations. This Entrance Antiphon, then, is meant primarily as a call to the Lord for His most gracious assistance. It is indeed good that He is now in Heaven, for we may seek Him at any moment, unlike those in the Gospel who had to go to Him to petition His Divine assistance (e.g. Mark 5:21-43). While it is true they could still pray to God their Father, they could not do so through the mediation of Christ. But now, as He reigns in Heaven, we can petition the Father through His Son, Christ our Lord, and how much greater does this make our petitions!
Not only that, however, but He now sends the Holy Spirit upon us, and through this Gift we are united to our Divine Head in Heaven! We are able to pray in new ways (Romans 8:26), we come to a deeper understanding of Divine Mysteries (John 16:13), and we are able to see Jesus, not as a special man, but as our Lord and God (Matthew 16:17). The Spirit takes us past this visible world of ours and opens our eyes to see Jesus, seated at the Right Hand of God, glorified in Heaven!
Christ tells us to rejoice because of where He has gone, because of the benefits it derives for us, but also because it is easier for us to understand just Who He is and what He calls us to. While He was on earth, there was much discussion and debate about Who He was (Matthew 16:14); it was hard to accept Him as the Son of God. But now that He has risen from the dead and gone before us into Heaven we are able, through the gift of Faith and the Holy Spirit able to easily see through the veils and proclaim Him as our Lord and God!
This is the significance of the Entrance Antiphon, especially appropriate as we enter into the Holy Mass. Although the Lord is not visibly with us, we know He is present to us, especially in the Church's Liturgy, and thus we begin our worship with a request that He may hear us. The Holy Spirit has taught us to pray in this way. We bring our petitions to the Altar, where Heaven and earth are joined, and thus we know that God the Father shall hear our prayer. For our cry goes up in the power of the Holy Spirit through Christ our Lord, and this is all on account of Christ having ascended into Heaven where He now pleads for us!
But let us also look at the next part of the antiphon, "Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face; hide not your face from me." Even though we understand the benefits of our Lord ascending into Heaven and sending the Holy Spirit upon us, we are still left with an irresistible longing for Him. This is of course natural, for as beings composed of both body and soul, the spiritual consolation of the Spirit is not complete. Our bodies still require rest in Him, and this can only be completed at the time in the Resurrection of the Dead with new heavens and a new earth. Even our souls, though the Holy Spirit dwells in them, and thus through Him they are united to Christ, do not enjoy the full rest the Beatific Vision shall provide.
Thus, there is still this crying out to God and this seeking for Him. We know where we may find Him, but the journey to get there is still long and hard. This is all the more reason we pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit, for He can quicken our pilgrimage by His presence, but this is also the great benefit the Liturgy, especially the Holy Mass provides. In the Mass, we truly gaze on the Lord's Face, though under the Sacramental veils. In the public prayers of the Church we do not cry out to God as is the manner of all religions, but we cry out through the Holy Spirit, thus crying out in Heaven Itself!
These truths should give us a new found appreciation for the Liturgy; even though we may already know them to be true, meditation upon them can always give us new insights and understandings. And the importance of doing this cannot be overstressed. The Liturgy is a sure rock for our evangelization and our own spiritual development. It is the source whereby grace is imparted to our souls. It is the platform from which the Scriptures are proclaimed to us. It is the font from which we learn the Church's Faith. To separate oneself from the Liturgy is to risk separating oneself from the Church of Christ, and to devalue the Liturgy, to not care about it, to not make it a priority, is to exalt oneself above Christ.
Our pride leads us to do all these things, to value our personal prayers more than those given by Christ Himself through the Church, to think our own acts are more necessary than the act of participating in the Church's acts. But this is one of the great tricks Satan leads us into to ensnare us. He rejoices when a soul prays a rosary instead of going to Mass, when there are no circumstances or obstacles in the way to prevent Mass attendance, for then the soul has exalted a sacramental above a Sacrament! He rejoices when prayer is set aside to go to pro-life rallies and help the poor, for in doing so those works of mercy lose their supernatural merit.
The only way to begin to see the face of Christ here below is through the gift of faith the Holy Spirit gives, and the only way to definitively receive the Holy Spirit is through the Sacraments. In celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist this Easter Season, this is one of the parts we rejoice in. Though the Holy Spirit can come to any soul, a soul that presents itself for the Sacraments will receive the Holy Spirit regardless, as long as barrier is not put in the way.
O wondrous joy the Sacraments provide! If we want to see the face of Christ, there is no surer method than through the Sacraments, for while others may find God without the Sacraments, they do not have the guarantee of salvation, but those Who seek Him through the Church are promised salvation because God has bound Himself to grant it to them by the reception of the Sacrament.
This is the great mercy of God. This is why we must never cease to call upon Him, but not with hesitancy, but with confidence and joy! He has bound Himself to listen to the prayers offered through the Liturgy, for those prayers are offered through Christ our Lord. To refuse the prayers of Christ would present a contradiction in the Divine Will, for the Will of Father and Son are the one same Divine Will, as is the Holy Spirit with them.
And thus it is so important we pray to receive the Holy Spirit throughout these days and before we set off into Ordinary Time where we shall focus more especially on our evangelization and spiritual lives. If we want to see the Face of God, we would be wises to use the path God wishes us to use, and since the Spirit shares that Will, He can guide us in it.
In this final week of Easter, then, let us sing "Alleluia" in a new way. The Lord has gone before us into Heaven and there allows us to offer prayers through His intercession. May we unite ourselves to the Holy Spirit we have received, and pray that we may be shown the way we must go, and let us pray even more for a further outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for He can give us already here below the beginning of the sight of God. This will then stir up our ardor for Heaven even more, and increase our fervor on this earth. But the best part is, when we do finally reach our final goal in the Beatific Vision, those foretastes and small blessings and consolations we received here below will be realized to not only pale in comparison but to be literally as nothing compared with the True Sight!
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