April 18 Blog

April 18, 2011

There are many times of the year that I love for various reasons but I love Spring because of the new life and the way the earth changes colors as it awakens and goes from dull lifeless browns and grays to brilliant hues of green and the full color wheel of reds, purples, yellows, oranges, etc. of the flowers.

There are seasons in the church year also and we have just exited Lent and the purple vestments and penitential trappings and we loudly marched into Palm Sunday to begin Holy Week in the Catholic church.

The Paschal Triduum, often called the Easter Triduum or simply the Triduum, begins during Holy Week, and consists of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. This includes the Great Easter Vigil, the high point of the Triduum. The word Triduum comes from the Latin word meaning "three days." It begins the evening of Maundy Thursday and ends at Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday. Thus the Triduum consists of three full days which begin and end in the evening. The Triduum technically is not part of Lent (at least liturgically), but Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are still reckoned as part of the traditional forty day Lenten fast. The Triduum celebrates the heart of our faith, salvation, and redemption: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, the Triduum commemorates the Institution of the Eucharist (the "sacrament of sacraments"), the passion, crucifixion, death of the Lord, his descent to the dead, and finally his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. Along with the Ascension, these important events make up the Paschal Mystery.
Catholics world wide will be worshiping and celebrating this week in very visible ways. You may drive by the local Catholic church and see people walking in a path of a series of crosses. They will be praying the Stations of the Cross. This will be occurring on Good Friday. Tuesday, there will be groups of us from different parishes that will be making the trek to the Cathedral in Jackson to attend the Chrism Mass when we will also be picking up the holy oils that will be used throughout the year during various Rites.
Just as the season of change is washing over our earth, the season of change is in our church. The darkness is dispelled by the Light. As the Sun warms the earth and life springs anew, so the Son brings us new life and creates new within us.
I hope you have a blessed Easter.