On Thursday evening we enter into this Triduum together. After listening to the Scriptures we do something different from other liturgies: we wash feet as Jesus did at the Last Supper. Jesus gave us the image of what the Church is supposed to look like, feel like, and act like. Then we celebrate the Eucharist. The evening liturgy has no ending: whether we stay to pray awhile or leave, we are now in the quiet and peace and glory of the Triduum.

GOOD FRIDAY:

We gather quietly on Friday and listen to Scripture, including the passion from the Gospel of John. We pray at length for all of the world’s needs. Then there is another once a year event: the holy cross is held up in our midst and we come forward one by one to do reverence with a kiss or a bow or a genuflection. All the while we sing not only of our sorrow but of the glory of the cross. We continue in fasting and prayer and vigil, in rest and quiet through Saturday. This Saturday for us is like God’s rest at the end of creation. It is Christ’s repose in the tomb.

EASTER VIGIL:

Next we gather in the church in darkness and we light a new fire and a great candle that will make this night bright for us. We listen to some of the most powerful scriptures in our Bible: stories of creation, Abraham, Issac, Moses, and Miriam, and the crossing of the Red Sea. Then we pray to all our saints to stand with us and we go to the font and bless the waters. There the catechumens renounce evil, profess the faith of the church, are baptized and anointed. All of us renew our Baptismal promises. For us, these are the moments when death and life meet, when we reject evil and give our promises to God. So together, as a parish family and as a universal church, we go to the table and celebrate the Easter Eucharist. Easter morning begins and we are ready for fifty days of rejoicing.