Hello everyone and welcome back to the Matthew Schreiner podcast. Alleluia! He is Risen! Today's episode will look at the Easter Octave, and for that fact will look at the rest of the Easter season. I had originally intended for this video to be released on Monday, which regardless, Monday's video was pushed until Tuesday, and because of the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, I decided that, that news was more pressing for a video to be made, than my idea for this video. And regardless, Easter does not just end on Sunday, and it does not end on this Sunday either, rather the Easter season continues for an entire 50 days afterwards. Also, Trent Horn released a video about the Resurrection on Wednesday, and I have a feeling that, like me, he intended for the video to be released on Monday, but pushed it until later in the week.
I want to make one announcement. I have been working since about the beginning of April on another blog. This blog is called Liturgical Review. And for those of you listening to this on audio or video, I will try and leave a link in the description to the blog, if possible, I know it will work on YouTube, but I am not so sure how it will work on Spotify. But regardless, on this blog we look at things relating to Catholic Liturgy. So, beside that I still am working on blog posts on my main "Matthew Schreiner" blog (which I will also try and leave a link to in the description). I currently upload text only versions of my scripts for these videos for on that blog. I have also been experimenting with Blogger, which is the "back end" of the blogs, most especially on the Liturgical Review blog site. And using blogger you can kind of have a very simply website, which is what Liturgical review has, and what I am considering doing with my main Matthew Schreiner blog. You can also have custom domains on Blogger, which is something I will have to experiment with.
Besides that one announcement relating to the Matthew Schreiner Podcast. I have officially made the Matthew Schreiner Podcast (and all the previous episodes of it) an official Podcast on YouTube. YouTube now has a Podcast feature, and so I was able to make a podcast on Spotify and now it will show up. All podcasts on YouTube really are, are glorifies playlists. Which I looked into it because I saw on one YouTube video that I was watching that he had a little tag in the video description. And so I really liked that, and so now all episodes of the Matthew Schreiner Podcast, which are uploaded to this YouTube channel. Also by the way, a little fun fact, there is, at least now, and probably that is how it will remain, at least for a while, one more episode of the Matthew Schreiner podcast on Spotify than there is on YouTube. That is because the first episode of the Matthew Schreiner Podcast was an audio only one featured originally on RSS, and brought onto Spotify, and other Podcast places. Now, episodes are only on Spotify and YouTube, and I checked, I believe the show was originally on Apple Podcasts, but now it is only found on Spotify, and one other obscure place. And of course, all episodes are here on YouTube, which is the primary place that I upload.
Anyways, Easter has come once again. Easter is more than just a time for egg hunts, rabbits, hams, dyed eggs, and lamb cakes. Don't get me wrong, these things are all great parts of Easter, most especially coming together to celebrate as a family. But above all, we must understand truly what Easter means. Truly what it means to us as Catholic Christians, and why it is such a big deal.
The Easter Vigil is part of Easter, and the beginning of the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection. The Easter Vigil, was, and still is, the traditional night on which Catechumens enter into the church. This Vigil is the principal and most important of all vigil celebrations. This vigil is a very special vigil. Part of the Easter Vigil, and even part of Easter Mass is the Renewal of Baptismal promises. As our one priest like to point out, these are the oldest promises we have as a church, the promises for which saints and martyrs died for. In these promises we renounce sin and Satan, accepting God, and living in his light.
Above all the Easter Vigil recalls not only Christ's resurrection, but the time he spent in the Underworld, and by that defeated sin and Satan and evil. The Easter Vigil reminds us of our salvation, won for us by the death of Christ. But above all we recall more importantly, his Resurrection from the dead. By his death he won for us salvation, and by his rising again, he shows us the victory he had over sin and death. And this joy that we have that he is risen, and that he lives again, is Easter.
And just as Christ did not rise and then immediately leave his apostles, we celebrate Easter, first of all for an entire week. We can say that Just as Christ did not appear all at once in one place, and the joy of the Resurrection lasted with the apostles for a long time as he appeared to them in different places, so too our joy for Easter lasts an entire week. But just as he did not just stay with the apostles for one week, but rather stayed with them for fifty days. So we continue to celebrate Easter, and Christ's Resurrection, not just for a week, although the joy and fullness of Easter lasts for this entire Octave week, we continue to celebrate Christ as he appeared risen and stayed with the Apostles.
As I said in the last video about the Passing of Pope Francis, we are a people who celebrate our lives surrounding Easter, as we like Christ hope to be Resurrected, as he promised, on the last day. In Baptism, we die to ourselves, and rise to be transfigured and joined to Christ.
This year throughout Europe and the United States (especially in England and London) there were record numbers of baptisms, of people joining into Christ's church, which he himself founded.
This Easter, let us remember Christ, and share truly in his Paschal Joy. The celebration of the New Life he won for us. And the true event of the Resurrection, of Christ who came to earth, and taught, and built a church for our salvation, for which he gave his life, thought death and sin, and won victorious, and then rose again. God Bless, and have a Blessed Easter Season!
So I kept my promise, and there are links to the blog in both the video and audio (YouTube and Spotify) for both of the blogs. Unfortunately, there is not link in the actual blog. I did include a link to the video in this blog post, but I did not add links to the blog. Of course, the only needed link is the one to Liturgical Review (https://liturgicalreview.blogspot.com/ ), which I've included in this comment, you don't need a link to this blog because, if you are reading this, your on the blog.
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