The Easter Triduum is three events in the one continuous recognition of the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. This begins with Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and concludes with vespers (evening prayer) on Easter Sunday.
It began with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday as the Lord institutes the memorial of the Eucharist in the offering of his body and blood in preparation for the sacrifice to come in his death. The Eucharist is his true body and blood in a mystery of transubstantiation for the atonement of our sins through all ages. Lent was an opportunity to join Jesus by sharing of our own sacrifice not to atone for our sins but as an act of worship and thanksgiving. The celebration of the Mass is a celebration of thanksgiving in remembrance of the one sacrifice. It also institutes Holy Orders, that is the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church with himself as our High Priest and the disciples as priestly servants of the High Priest. We recall this institution by the reenactment of the washing of the feet to remember true discipleship is servant leadership. This invitation to servant leadership is a call to all faithful believers in our own state of life. The willingness of ourselves to sacrifice for others is the beginning of the Christian life.
Next is Good Friday, just one day after the institution of the Holy Eucharist we have this one day in which the church does not celebrate the Mass. The solemnity of this day is the passion and death of Jesus in which Catholic churches around the world conduct reenactments to recall the reality of the sacrifice in all of Jesus true humanity to return to the Father in all his divinity. His life is not taken from him. He surrenders it to the Father to be one, consubstantial of the one nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We are invited to spend an hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament this night as Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake with him in his agony before his arrest. We recall his suffering is very personal in our lives for our own redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. As Peter denied Jesus three times, we recall our own denial of our faith. When we trust not Jesus will in our lives but our own egocentric desire to be our own god we reject his grace and mercy and deny him once again. When we choose to disobey the commandments with full knowledge and free will we deny the fear of God and invite judgment upon ourselves. When we vow to the Lord to live our state of life in chastity to our call as single, married, widow, religious, or priestly and break our vows we deny our Lord. We may deny our promises but Jesus does not deny himself the promise he has made to us.
The Tridium concludes with the final day beginning with the Saturday vigil at sunset until Sunday evening vespers. In the darkness of the fire the Easter candle is lit to bring us “The Light of Christ” to “banish the darkness of sin” and “persevere undimmed” (Exultant) in the life of the church and in our lives as faithful followers of the light. The night recalls the history of salvation in all the readings and in our voices raised to sing the Gloria, the Litany of the Saints and our Alleluia! Easter has come with the promise of the empty tomb that is the resurrected Christ. We join him as children of the light to burn brightly in our souls fulfilling the great commandment, “love God” and “love your neighbor” as he loves us. Our praise to God is fulfilled in our capacity to love. We come together as family to express that love having already reconciled our self to God and with each other. We come together as church to share in the fellowship of this love poured out for us giving testimony through our worship together. We come together in our image of God to be one with him in our soul joining our mind, hearts, and will to be of one mind, one heart, and one will as humble servants ready to wash each other’s feet.
Saint Peter reminds us of that we do fall and we rise again in hopes that each time our conversion brings us closer to Jesus, closer to the divine life, closer to each other. HAPPY EASTER!!
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