The Paschal Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection is at the heart of our faith.
The days when we commemorate these central events happen at the end of Holy Week during the three days of the Triduum that begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday, continuing through Good/God's Friday and Holy Saturday, and lasts until Resurrection/Easter Sunday.
The Triduum was our focus during class time.
Our opening song was "Glory in the Cross of Christ", and its lyrics encompass our focus during Holy Week and the Triduum.
During His Passion, Christ suffered greatly, and through the ages, people have asked why there's suffering in the world. Bishop Barron offers some thoughts on this topic in this homily. We listened to a few minutes of it starting around the 8:00 mark when he shares a story about his family's dog when he was growing up.
In Philippians 2:6-11, the second reading for Palm Sunday Mass, St. Paul writes that Christ humbled Himself in obedience to the Father and suffered greatly and then died on the Cross, fulfilling the plan to redeem us from sin, and then He rose to new life.
We recall Christ's exuberant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and we hold palms to remember how Jesus got lavish treatment when He entered.
On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate when Christ instituted the Eucharist, and the priesthood, at a meal with the apostles celebrating the Jewish Passover, when they remembered God's deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt and established a covenant with them. Christ instituted a new covenant at that Passover meal, with a new commandment to love one another. Maundy comes from the Latin term mandatum, the word for command. (I recorded this video 5 years ago to illustrate elements of Maundy Thursday.)
Then we remember the Crucifixion on Good Friday, terminology that comes to us from the phrase "God's Friday". During the liturgy of this day, we venerate the Cross by touching it with a reverent gesture.
The darkness of Holy Week Friday continues when the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil begins with the church in darkness. As we hear stories of how God sought to save His people, the light in the church grows gradually brighter until all the lights are illuminated when we sing the Alleluia acclamation and rejoice that Christ is Risen. (I also recorded a video on Holy Saturday and its stunning visual effects.)
There is so much joy that marks Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Lord's Resurrection, and it continues for 50 Days until Pentecost.
Becuase of the Resurrection, we are truly a people of hope, and that is the focus of this year's 2025 Jubilee. We finished class with the Jubilee 2025 Year Prayer. Everyone got a copy of it upon leaving class, along with a handout on the Shroud of Turin that I got from the National Eucharistic Congress.
We'll focus on the meaning of the Easter Season next time we gather as we approach the end of the RE year.
Please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.
Remember, you're not just lucky, you're blessed.
We remain connected as One Church bound by faith in Jesus Christ Who humbled Himself to the point of death on the Cross to bring us salvation and new life:
All my relations.
God's blessings for Holy Week and the Triduum,
Paul
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| Inside Ascension on Palm Sunday |
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