Alleluia! The Easter Vigil

Joe Paprocki Easter

The Easter Vigil last night at St. Julie Billiart Parish in Tinley Park was exquisite! What a beautiful experience of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord! Here are the catechumens and candidates gathered around the soon-to-be-lit fire.

002

The Easter fire is lit in the darkened narthex of the church.

004

The Deacon did a wonderful job of singing the Exsultet…the Easter Proclamation…in the darkened church lit now by the candles held by all the faithful.

009

The Scripture readings were proclaimed with a dramatic flare. Here, water is poured into the baptismal font as the “Come to the water” reading is proclaimed.

011

The water is blessed

018

The first of the catechumens enters the waters of the baptismal font

019

Splash!!!

020

The Neophytes return in white baptismal garments

027

We all get wet, renewing our baptismal promises

026

At the reception following the Easter Vigil (which took just under 2 1/2 hours), the newly initiated receive homemade prayer shawls from fellow parisioners

033

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!

A Blessed Easter to all!!!

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

Related Articles

Springs of Faith Baptism program
Leading a Parish Program

Accompaniment Is Ongoing

Joe Paprocki Leading a Parish Program

Imagine attending a concert featuring a solo vocalist accompanied by a keyboard player and, after the first song, the accompanist gets up and exits the stage and does not reappear for the remainder of the concert. So much for accompaniment! Too often, in our faith formation efforts, our accompaniment is short-lived. A family shows up at the parish to have their baby baptized, and we accompany them at the baptismal prep meeting and the Baptism. And […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
Piero della Francesca - "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ"
Easter

Easter Blessings

Joe Paprocki Easter

As we celebrate this Easter Sunday, I extend my sincerest best wishes and prayers to all who enjoy the privilege of proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus in the catechetical ministry. I hope you enjoy this special Easter reflection, part of our Arts & Faith series. For the transcript, an activity idea, and a related Ignatian reflection on this video, click here. Print Friendly

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
Springs of Faith Baptism program
Leading a Parish Program

Welcoming, Accompanying, and Evangelizing Young Families

Joe Paprocki Leading a Parish Program, Liturgy and Sacraments

In his book, Excellence in Ministry (part of The Effective Catechetical Leader series), my good friend Tom Quinlan makes a powerful plea for a significant shift in how we approach families when it comes to faith formation: I like to say that the “cement is wet” at Baptism and that by Confirmation (and even First Eucharist) the cement of family faith identity and practice has greatly or fully hardened. My strong exhortation for parishes today […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*