The Triduum

Sin, Sorrow, Repentance, Anguish, Betrayal, Cowardice, Suffering Servant, Trauma, Death, Tragedy, Salvation, Hope, Joy, Peace, Fulfillment, Renewal and Restoration. As varied as the words just mentioned are, they do have something in common. Our celebration of the Sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday/Easter takes each of us deeper into the Paschal Mystery we celebrate. If we take the time to reflect on these words, we can begin to see each and every one of them in the three days (Triduum) and in our everyday lives.

Sin is the first in this word list because it is the “why” of what we are doing during these three days. To truly experience the Sacred Triduum, we must experience each of these emotions and actions as Jesus did. Our sorrow, our genuine repentance, our betrayal of Jesus as we more and more seek our own way.

As the values and morals we as Catholics embrace are assaulted, we must feel anguish and trauma just as Jesus did. Jesus wept at the realization of the very same things we face for being Christians. Called to be servants in the midst of suffering, pain and neediness in the world, we tend to run away rather than confront these things head on. And what is so sad, many of us have actually embraced these philosophies and values with full knowledge they are not part of God’s will for us.

And we finally come to realize that it is one of the most traumatic things we can endure… “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me.” And yet the darkness of these things cannot extinguish the hope, joy, and peace we experience when the Light once again returns, bringing salvation, restoration, and renewal. Alleluia.

- Deacon John