Entering The Joy: Easter Entrance Antiphon Series; Easter Tuesday.

Entering The Joy: Easter Entrance Antiphon.

He is not Here. He is Risen.  

The Entrance Antiphons are an important part of the Mass. They are meant to set the tone — the theological and emotional atmosphere for the entire celebration. They help us enter into the liturgy, prepare our minds and hearts, and reflect the spirit of the day, especially on feasts and solemnities.

Yet too often, these beautiful texts go unnoticed. They can sound like a garbled mess, especially if the congregation doesn’t have the words in front of them. Even with a text to follow, people may be out of sync — ahead or behind, seldom united in one voice. One might wonder: What’s the point of the Entrance Antiphon? They don’t always feel very inviting.

In this Eastertide series, Entering the Joy: Eastertide Entrance Antiphons, I want to explore these antiphons from both a biblical-theological and a practical perspective — so these hidden gems might take their rightful place in the crown of Easter’s spiritual splendour.

 Easter Tuesday Entrance Antiphon.

“He gave them the waters of wisdom to drink; it will be made strong in them, and will not be moved; it will raise them up forever. Alleluia.” (Cf. Sirach 15:3-4)

 What is the waters of wisdom and is related to baptism or confirmation.  The answer might be both, with beautiful overlap between baptism, confirmation, and the symbolism of wisdom as living water.

 

1. Waters of Wisdom and Baptism

In Eastertide, almost everything flows back to baptism — the “new birth” through water and the Spirit (John 3:5). The Church draws us constantly back to this identity:

• At the Easter Vigil, the faithful are sprinkled with water, and the Exsultet proclaims the "waters made holy."
• Wisdom, in this context, can be seen as the Word we receive at baptism — the seed of divine understanding that grows within.

Isaiah 55:1 echoes this beautifully:

“Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters…”

 

2. Wisdom and Confirmation

Confirmation deepens baptismal grace, and one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is wisdom — not just knowledge, but the ability to see as God sees.

So this antiphon could be reflecting how that wisdom is poured into the soul, strengthened and sustained by the Holy Spirit.

“It will be made strong in them… it will raise them up forever.”

That sounds very much like confirmation grace at work — not momentary insight, but enduring transformation.

 

3. Wisdom as Christ Himself

There’s a third layer too — in Scripture, Wisdom is personified, especially in the Wisdom books (like Sirach, where this antiphon comes from). For Christians, Wisdom ultimately points to Christ:

“Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

So the “waters of wisdom” could be a poetic way of saying:

You have been given Christ — the Living Word, the Risen One — and His life will never leave you.

In summary then:

• Baptism: the wisdom of God begins to flow in us through the waters.
• Confirmation: the gift is strengthened, made unshakable.
• Christ: the wellspring of eternal wisdom who raises us up forever.