We are in the midst of Triduum, the emotional days of Holy Thursday Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday night. It is a busy time for me since I sing in the choir. Most of us are present for all three nights as well as for the Easter morning services. We tend to be very alert as to what’s happening in the liturgy, to pick up our cues for what to sing when. In other words, we have to be present and pay attention in each moment. And because we have been practicing for several weeks, we have had plenty of time to reflect on these celebrations. It helps us get a stronger grasp on what is transpiring in this most holy week of the Christian calendar.
The Triduum is truly a celebration of and journey through God’s salvific history. We commemorate the gifts of Jesus’ body and blood on Holy Thursday’s feast of the Last Supper, in which Jesus gave us his body and blood to be with us always. St. Ambrose called this Christ kissing us on the mouth. Other theologians refer to Eucharist as God’s physical embrace of us. Ronald Rolheiser wrote: “On the night before his death, having exhausted what he could do with words, Jesus went beyond them. He gave us the Eucharist, his physical embrace, his kiss, a ritual within which he holds us to his heart.” Eucharist is God’s way of touching us intimately and deeply. I think of some of the kisses I shared with a man I loved. I literally felt as though I was physically melting into, merging souls with this man. That is what sharing Christ’s body and blood through Eucharist should feel like.
On Good Friday, we remember Jesus passion and death on the cross. It is more than just weeping for what Jesus endured. It isn’t so much about Jesus paying a penalty to save us, but Jesus showing us the way we all must go. God didn’t need a penalty, didn’t need Jesus to pass a series of tests to free us or make us lovable. We always have been loved and forgiven. Instead it is a reminder to us that we must die to things that keep us estranged from deep union with God. It is a painful dying but Jesus’ death is a reminder that God is with us through our loss and suffering, and that it is necessary to bring us to new life. And that resurrection awaits us.
The Easter Vigil is a beautiful, if long, liturgy filled with symbols and imagery. It begins with lighting the fire from which the Paschal candle is lit, dispelling the darkness and bringing light. The flame is then passed by candles from person to person and soon the church is filled with lit candles providing the only source of light as several readings commemorate God with us from creation throughout Biblical history.
The Easter Vigil is traditionally when new Catholics are welcomed into the church and we all renew our baptismal vows. With those vows we promise to reject Satan and his works and empty promises, we pledge our belief in Creator God and God’s son, Jesus. Then we acknowledge our belief in the Holy Spirit, the Church, “the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
It strikes me as a bit odd that, while we promise to reject Satan, nowhere do we promise to love God and accept God’s amazing love for us. We only promise to believe in God. Nowhere in these vows do we proclaim our gratitude for our own creation and for all of creation or promise to care for it. And considering the night before we have commemorated Jesus’ suffering and death--usually through intensely emotional rituals--where is the gratitude for all that Jesus went through to help open our eyes to the truth of how beloved we all are? The baptismal vows are all about doctrine, but God and Jesus are all about love. For each one of us. Equally. No matter who we are or how small and worthless and unlovable we think we are.
One of the songs we sing at the Easter Vigil and Easter morning is “Roll Away the Stone.” Of course this refers to the stone being rolled from the grave on Easter morning and the hope and vindication Jesus’ followers experienced. But it also refers to the personal stones that block us from true belief and acceptance, beyond all dogma or doctrine, beyond rules and laws and policies. And especially beyond ego. Roll the stones from your hearts, God is saying, see the glory of God reflected in you and all of creation. Know how deeply beloved you are.
In Hebrews 10:19-20 Paul writes” We have, then, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. He has opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body.” Jesus became a portal directly into the heart of God. The door is open, we only have to accept the invitation to enter and let God’s abundant love flow over us and through us.
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