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<\/a>Post by Allison \u00a0<\/i>My parish choir\u2019s alto section \u2013 all two of us \u2013 came a half hour early Thursday night to rehearsal to work with our music director on Georg Friedrich H\u00e4ndel\u2019s Hallelujah Chorus. As we sang, with our church enveloped in darkness and the world outside dark too, I realized being able to sing Alleluia \u2013 which means Praise God \u2013 is one of the reasons I am Catholic.
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This Lent has been a long and lonely time for my soul. We Catholics do not sing or say Alleluia during this penitential season. Some Christian friends who attend non-liturgical churches do not understand why Catholics observe 40 days of Lent and then the 50-day Easter season. The rhythms of the Church\u2019s calendar help me to understand the drama of salvation.<\/p>\n
As for H\u00e4ndel\u2019s Messiah, I\u2019ve been singing and hearing it since childhood. I think of it as one of my personal theme songs. It was almost an anthem for my public high-school chorus and my parents sang Messiah in various choral groups. How I am looking forward to singing it with my fellow choristers at Easter Vigil after we have traveled together through Lent! Easter, in which we celebrate our Lord\u2019s resurrection, doesn\u2019t makes sense without Lent. Without understanding deprivation, we cannot understand salvation. Without the sorrow of Christ\u2019s suffering, our Easter joy is meaningless. Our church was dark Thursday night except for a light in the choir loft. As I surveyed the darkened sanctuary below, with its veiled statues and crucifix, I could see only the candle burning in front of the tabernacle. The light of salvation like this, too.<\/p>\n