"It Is Finished" (The Candle Story, that is)

I learned so much from this flame preservation that I could fill volumes. I won’t do that now, because I want to get to the really REALLY important part now.  Today.  RIGHT NOW. 

 

Months later, as restrictions lifted, I went in search of a case of candles. At the time, there was a Catholic bookstore in Kalamazoo, so I went there and asked if I could get a case of the 7-day candles that are made for the exact purpose of carrying flames for memorials. I explained to my friend Steve behind the counter what I needed the candles for and the urgency with which I needed them. He ordered the candles from his supplier and asked an innocent question that still haunts me. “What difference does it make?” Okay, full disclosure, I was hopping mad at first. Why did he not UNDERSTAND how important this was?  What he was asking is what difference does it make if this particular candle goes out, and he has a point. (Matches exist to light candles.) This flame being extinguished really does not add or subtract from the entire world around me. At the end of the day, it's just a candle. But THIS candle had come to represent the necessity of keeping my faith alive, especially during this time of so much loneliness and darkness. It was a great question. What difference does it make if I let the flame OF MY FAITH go out? What difference would it make if God wasn't central in my life? Truth is, it makes all the difference. Without God there's no point. Without God there's no love. Even in the darkest times and the most “unprecedented” times and the most awful things a person can go through in life, God is there. God is always there loving us through it. He loves us into existence every single day. I don't love God so that he can love me. I love God because he loved me first. Of course, Steve had no idea how connected this candle and my faith life had become. He had no way of knowing what it meant to me, or what an impact his simple question had on my life, especially over the next few months.  

The flame burned on for nearly an entire year. Every single day we made sure the flame was still burning brightly. We made sure the next candle was ready to go. We looked ahead to see when we needed to reorder them. Sometimes one candle would go out, and we relit it from the remaining "partner" candle. We had someone check the candle when we left the house for more than a day. Diligent!  We were DILIGENT in pouring the incredible amount of care and attention it took to keep it lit.

Before long, the Triduum was approaching!

Remember when I mentioned that on Good Friday all the candles were extinguished in the church?  ALL of them. Every. Single. Candle. The sister flame would be gone. Extinguished. I sat and looked at this dear little fire that we had spent the last year keeping alive, and I feared the darkness of being without it. Why snuff it out?  Why not just keep going as it is? All that work and preparation would have been for nothing! What difference DID it make? Was I really prepared to give up all that we worked for over the past year? It was truly excruciating.

Turns out, THAT IS THE POINT!

That is the whole point of Good Friday. It was excruciating. For years, Jesus had been leading and teaching and preparing his disciples for what was about to come. He created a life. He welcomed strangers and outcasts. He created his own “FrankenCandle” of followers that were not the rich and fancy, but when combined with his light, shone brightly. He was diligent and intentional. Every day he cared for his people and checked on them. He fed them and healed them. He KNEW what he was going to do and what it would cost him. In the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed so fervently to Let this cup pass, but only if it’s YOUR will. How brutal it must have been for him to give it all up and not keep caring for our earthly needs.  

Talk about brutal, Jesus was beaten, scourged, mocked and tortured. He was mutilated to the point of being almost unrecognizable as a person. Then beaten some more. Then humiliated some more, even by one who was being crucified with him. He was nailed to the cross by his feet and hands, and left to die, and the last thing he said was “It is finished.” With that, the light of the world went out. 

 

This was just a candle. It also wasn’t JUST a candle to me. It was a flame that we kept burning for a year, and it was hard to let it go. It was the light and warmth that reminded us of the REAL source of light and warmth. taught me so much about my faith. It made a lot of difference. I mourned that little light and noticed how dark my house was without it.   

Good Friday is dark. It’s grieving and lonely and feels hopeless. Jesus’s friends felt that too. The darkness and finality of the grave is a flame you can never relight.

 

Except…

 

JESUS

 

It’s Triduum again. Not just one day, but three. Good Friday isn’t the end of the story. Jesus knew that wasn't going to be the end. He knew the loss and pain was necessary to bring the whole world hope! Jesus knew the story wasn't over. He is RISEN! He didn't leave us, he came back for us, making a path for us to eternal bliss with the Father. On Easter Vigil, 2021, Holy Saturday, the SUPERBOWL of Catholic celebrations, we gathered, IN PERSON, with our faith family. First one candle was lit from the new fire outdoors, and then the flame passed from candle to candle, held by our brothers and sisters, friends and family, until the entire church was aglow with HIS light!  The Halleluia was sung and the WHOLE STORY WAS TOLD, and people were baptized, and all REVELED in the VICTORY that Christ has won for all of us…TOGETHER. 

We sang the songs, celebrated the Resurrection, and shared the fire. A candle was kept in the choir room to transport our new flame home to its place of honor in the prayer corner, and the diligent, intentional, and important work of maintaining the fire AND my faith began anew.  

SO that’s what happened. Every year since we have kept the fire from Holy Saturday until the following Good Friday.  As I write this, it is Good Friday, 2026, and I just blew out our candle. I’m sad, but I know what's coming. Happy Easter.