I keep trying to think of things to write about and every time I come up with something, it just seems too involved to make into a relatively short blog. So, instead, I will write about the most important thing going on in my life right now…Easter. As a Catholic we start celebrating the actual Easter holiday on Palm Sunday and build up through the holy week. Yesterday was Holy Thursday and today is Good Friday, the beginning of the Easter Triduum. I have detailed some of the important facts about these days in the Catholic faith so that you may understand why we don’t just focus on Easter day alone. Today is also Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, which I can celebrate because I have bread now! So, I’m going to make a PB&J and try to get some school work done.
The Easter Triduum
The Easter Triduum…Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday evening…is the "high point" of the Church Year. The Latin word triduum means "a three-day period." We use the word to name collectively Friday (which in the Hebrew way of reckoning begins Thursday evening), Saturday and Sunday.
Holy Thursday
The Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper preserves two ancient traditions that were once common to every Eucharist. First, the Mass begins with the tabernacle entirely empty. We receive Holy Communion this evening from the bread and wine consecrated at this Mass, not from a previous Mass. Second, the entire community is gathered at this one Eucharist, with all the priests, ministers and parishioners celebrating one Eucharist together. The opening prayer sets the tone: "We are gathered here to share in the supper which your only Son left to his Church to reveal his love."
We might expect the Gospel for this Mass of the Lord's Supper to be one of the accounts of the institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26:26-29, Mk 14:22-25, Lk 22:14-20). Instead, the Church presents Jesus washing the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1-15). And not only do we hear about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, but we see and experience it. The leader of the parish community takes off his Mass vestment and takes water and a towel and washes the feet of parishioners. For many years I thought that washing feet was somehow "out of place" on this solemn night when we gather to celebrate the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Little by little through the years as I have watched feet being washed and had my own feet washed, I've found this ritual to be the most meaningful homily and commentary on the Eucharist. It gets to the very heart of what the Eucharist means. We gather to thank Jesus for the gift of the Eucharist; but the liturgy calls us to go deeper. The presence of Christ in the Eucharist is not an end in itself; it reminds us to go out and do as Christ did…humbling himself to serve others.
Following the Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist which will be shared tomorrow during the liturgy of Good Friday is taken in procession to a tabernacle prepared for it, and the church is prepared for Good Friday. "Then the altar is stripped and, if possible, the crosses are removed from the church. It is desirable to cover any crosses which remain in the church" (Roman Missal).
Good Friday
The liturgy of Good Friday is the most sober of the entire Church year…restrained and straightforward. The altar is bare, without cloths, candles or cross. There is no Mass: "according to the Church's ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated today or tomorrow" (Roman Missal). It is a day of fasting. There are no greetings, genuflections, opening songs, processions. We simply come and prostrate in humble submission before the Word and the glorious cross of Christ.
The Gospel reading is the proclamation of the Passion according to John. If we listen closely we find that this Passion account is very different from the one we heard on the previous Sunday. In John's Gospel, Jesus' power and majesty shine through. Jesus is in control of everything that happens. He carries his cross alone. He is victorious on the cross. Jesus reigns from the tree. The cross is our glory. The instrument of death is the instrument of salvation.
The third part of the Good Friday liturgy is unique to this day. A large cross is brought forward. It is unveiled and presented to us. We approach the wood of the cross, the instrument of torture, cruelty and death, and we reverence it with a touch or a kiss! If it were not for the eyes of faith we could never understand this strange, indeed bizarre action: seeing glory in the cross. For some today this might not seem strange because the cross has been tamed and domesticated by our constantly seeing the cross only as a religious symbol or a piece of art.
The Good Friday rites conclude with a simple Communion service with the Eucharist from Holy Thursday's liturgy. Holy Saturday is a day of quiet waiting and preparation for the Easter Vigil. Tomorrow I will continue my discussion of Holy Week by detailing the unique practices of Mass on the pinnacle of the Church calendar…Easter.
The Easter Triduum…Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday evening…is the "high point" of the Church Year. The Latin word triduum means "a three-day period." We use the word to name collectively Friday (which in the Hebrew way of reckoning begins Thursday evening), Saturday and Sunday.
Holy Thursday
The Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper preserves two ancient traditions that were once common to every Eucharist. First, the Mass begins with the tabernacle entirely empty. We receive Holy Communion this evening from the bread and wine consecrated at this Mass, not from a previous Mass. Second, the entire community is gathered at this one Eucharist, with all the priests, ministers and parishioners celebrating one Eucharist together. The opening prayer sets the tone: "We are gathered here to share in the supper which your only Son left to his Church to reveal his love."
We might expect the Gospel for this Mass of the Lord's Supper to be one of the accounts of the institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26:26-29, Mk 14:22-25, Lk 22:14-20). Instead, the Church presents Jesus washing the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1-15). And not only do we hear about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, but we see and experience it. The leader of the parish community takes off his Mass vestment and takes water and a towel and washes the feet of parishioners. For many years I thought that washing feet was somehow "out of place" on this solemn night when we gather to celebrate the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Little by little through the years as I have watched feet being washed and had my own feet washed, I've found this ritual to be the most meaningful homily and commentary on the Eucharist. It gets to the very heart of what the Eucharist means. We gather to thank Jesus for the gift of the Eucharist; but the liturgy calls us to go deeper. The presence of Christ in the Eucharist is not an end in itself; it reminds us to go out and do as Christ did…humbling himself to serve others.
Following the Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist which will be shared tomorrow during the liturgy of Good Friday is taken in procession to a tabernacle prepared for it, and the church is prepared for Good Friday. "Then the altar is stripped and, if possible, the crosses are removed from the church. It is desirable to cover any crosses which remain in the church" (Roman Missal).
Good Friday
The liturgy of Good Friday is the most sober of the entire Church year…restrained and straightforward. The altar is bare, without cloths, candles or cross. There is no Mass: "according to the Church's ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated today or tomorrow" (Roman Missal). It is a day of fasting. There are no greetings, genuflections, opening songs, processions. We simply come and prostrate in humble submission before the Word and the glorious cross of Christ.
The Gospel reading is the proclamation of the Passion according to John. If we listen closely we find that this Passion account is very different from the one we heard on the previous Sunday. In John's Gospel, Jesus' power and majesty shine through. Jesus is in control of everything that happens. He carries his cross alone. He is victorious on the cross. Jesus reigns from the tree. The cross is our glory. The instrument of death is the instrument of salvation.
The third part of the Good Friday liturgy is unique to this day. A large cross is brought forward. It is unveiled and presented to us. We approach the wood of the cross, the instrument of torture, cruelty and death, and we reverence it with a touch or a kiss! If it were not for the eyes of faith we could never understand this strange, indeed bizarre action: seeing glory in the cross. For some today this might not seem strange because the cross has been tamed and domesticated by our constantly seeing the cross only as a religious symbol or a piece of art.
The Good Friday rites conclude with a simple Communion service with the Eucharist from Holy Thursday's liturgy. Holy Saturday is a day of quiet waiting and preparation for the Easter Vigil. Tomorrow I will continue my discussion of Holy Week by detailing the unique practices of Mass on the pinnacle of the Church calendar…Easter.
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