It is very cool that Passover and Easter are celebrated on the same weekend this year. The first day of Passover falls on Holy Saturday. (Be sure to check out the full moon Friday night!) Passover celebrates the deliverance of the ancient Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is “Mitzryim”, which literally translates as “narrow place.” The Jews believe that by remembering the Exodus in the rituals of Passover they are being delivered from their narrow places — their restrictive ways of thinking and behaving. In leaving “Egypt” year after year they are being brought into wider, more open and expansive ways of living, loving and serving.
As Christians we view Jesus the Christ as our Passover. Through his death and resurrection Jesus sets us free. I think one way of viewing the Paschal Mystery is to recognize that we are spiritually being set free from our “Egypts,” our “narrow places”, our restrictive ways of viewing life. We are being brought into wider ways of thinking, more inclusive ways of living, loving and serving.
Fr. Thomas Keating taught that contemplative prayer draws us more deeply into the Paschal Mystery. Contemplation is our place of sabbath rest. In that silent space we die to the narrow views of our egos and rise to an expansive vision of life in Christ. This is a deep mysterious process which leads us from our narrow places into new possibilities for sharing Divine Life and Love.
~ PR