On Easter Sunday, a parishioner asked me if I had ever heard an explanation why people often eat ham on Easter Sunday? I am sure there may be a reason, but instead of making something up as I am sometimes tempted to do when I am stumped on a theological question, I simply admitted that I did not know. This interaction was in my mind as I sat down to write this article on the Lamb of God that takes place at Mass just before receiving Holy Communion.
I am aware that lamb is a dish that often finds its way onto the dinner table on Easter Sunday. In fact, the lamb is a symbol that you will often see associated with Easter. The lamb is a symbol of Christ Himself, who was sacrificed for our sins on Good Friday. He is referred to by St. John the Baptist as the Lamb of God. In the Eucharist, we consume the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Therefore, eating lamb on Easter can serve as a fitting reminder of the gift of the Eucharist that Jesus left us on Holy Thursday before offering Himself in sacrifice on the altar of the Cross the following day.
It is therefore providential for us to be reflecting on the Lamb of God on this Octave Day of Easter as we continue to rejoice in the glory of the Resurrection. To help us with our consideration of this prayer, let us return to Venerable Bruno Lanteri and his reflections on praying the Mass, through Father Timothy Gallagher’s book: A Biblical Way of Praying the Mass: The Eucharistic Wisdom of Venerable Bruno Lanteri:
Venerable Bruno writes: “At the Lamb of God, I will seek the sentiments and the heart of one who is guilty and in need of forgiveness.” Transferred to the spiritual realm, [this] is one who knows that he or she has acted contrary to Jesus’s teaching – through self-centeredness, impatience, lack of charity, anger, or through any of the seven capital sins and their unhappy expressions in act – and brings this awareness to Jesus, the Lamb of God, seeing that wonderful gift of mercy.
(p. 75 of Kindle version of book)
Historically, the triple request for mercy at this point was accompanied by the striking of the breast, as during the during the Confiteor at the beginning of the Mass. Although the Church no longer calls for this outward gesture of striking the breast, the inner disposition remains the same – humility and contrition before the Lord, whose love and mercy is about to come into our souls. Let us be particularly mindful of our need for mercy at this point in the Mass, increasing our gratitude for the healing grace the Eucharist is about to bring to us.
Speaking of mercy, the timing for our reflecting on this prayer is doubly providential as it coincides with Divine Mercy Sunday, always celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of Easter. Last Sunday, on Easter, we were invited to renew our Baptismal Promises, reminding us of that greatest day of our lives when Christ’s victory was applied to our souls. On this Octave Day of Easter, we are reminded that, though we may fall out of our weakness after Basptism, God’s mercy is always available to welcome us back and restore us to that place of right relationship with Him. This grace comes about in a most significant way through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, referred to at times as our “second baptism.” The ocean of God’s mercy is infinite, and no matter how far we have wandered from the Lord, His Divine Mercy is always available to us to renew and restore us. Having out sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb (in Baptism and Confession) makes it possible for us to share in the Lamb’s High Feast of the Eucharist where we are nourished and given a foretaste of the glory that awaits us in Heaven.
Father Alford