The Triduum: A Pilgrimage of Love

 

As we enter into the climatic season of the liturgical year for the Church, I pray that our Lenten journey has prepared us well. Pope Benedict reminds us that the Easter Triduum "invites us to ponder the loving obedience of Christ." These days give us a poignant and tangible opportunity to immerse ourselves into Christ's salvific actions.  In a way, the commemoration of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection during these three days can become a pilgrimage during which we can "resolve to imitate Christ's loving obedience to the Father's saving plan, which is the source of authentic freedom and the path of eternal life."

I have distinct memories of the Triduum from when I was young and can vividly recall how much I learned about my Catholic faith through the liturgical movement of the Church.  Bishop Malone often speaks about how he was “marinated in the faith as a child” and this was certainly the case for me during these most important of days.

On Holy Thursday I was always moved by the humble act of the washing of feet and processing with our Eucharistic Lord to the parish chapel where the faithful would “keep watch” with Christ until midnight.  There was something special about spending time with Christ in Eucharistic Adoration as we commemorated the night before He died.  Maybe it was the connection with that actual night two thousand years ago when the Apostles could not stay awake and how, in my sinfulness, I could be just like them often in my life. And yet, in His Presence, I knew I was loved.

Good Friday brought a time of silence, making the Lavigne home eerily quiet, from noon to 3 p.m.  I remember many Good Friday afternoons when I was alone in my room reading about Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross in my children’s Bible. As we grew older my brother began a tradition of putting up crosses in our back yard as a sign of his faith and love of Christ (he still practices this tradition today as he now lives in our childhood home with his family – about 25 years later).  And in the evening the community would gather to reflect intensely on Jesus’ redemptive act and we would “behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the Savior of the world.” As a young child I learned many lessons from the elders of our community who approached the Cross with such reverence, devotion and love for our Lord.

The climax of the Triduum is the Easter Vigil.  I have often taught young people that if they want to learn and experience the richness and beauty of our Catholic faith then they should attend the Easter Vigil Mass.  This celebration has it all – darkness and fire; silence and praise; the simplicity of water and the beauty of flowers; individuals coming into the Church and the community of believers embracing them.  I was blessed to be an altar server for many years during this powerful liturgical expression of our faith.  

There are many memories, too many to recount here, but one stands out after all these years.  It was just as the Easter candle was placed into its stand in the sanctuary, the Church being lit up by the candles of all the faithful, and the Deacon would begin to chant: “Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! Jesus Christ, our King is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!” As his voice rang out (our Deacon was – and he still is – a humble and compelling witness of our Catholic faith for me) my heart stirred with joy, hope and love.  Every year my heart stirred at this moment. It still does.

Now that I have my own children I pray that they too will be “marinated” in the life-giving truths of our faith during the Easter Triduum. I hope they will be moved by the actions of humility; by silence; by a reverent kiss of the Cross; by darkness and light; by a servant’s chanting of Christ’s victory; by the truth of Christ’s saving action out of love for them.

I pray you take time to stop, listen and learn during these holy days. This journey of faith, over the next few days, ultimately culminates in the triumphant celebration of our identity as Christians. "We are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song," Pope John Paul II reminded us so often. Even in the midst of persecution, loss, suffering, loneliness, and death we remain hope-filled due to the reality of Christ's victory! May we, through the graces available to us in this holy season, be witnesses of such hope and joy.  May our lives radiate Christ's obedient love!

by Michael Lavigne

 

Listen to the Creator

I’m sitting here struggling with a topic for this blog. A couple of ideas came to mind but they didn’t seem to fit the bill.  Why is it that I struggle with this so much? I don’t usually struggle with things to talk about,  but blogging. . .  It’s a lot like having a one sided conversation, the blogger is saying something but there’s no facial reaction, no body language, no verbal response to go by.  I wonder if that’s the way God often feels .  He communicates with us constantly in numerous ways but there’s no response.  How many of us are so busy doing things: working, taking care of family, jogging, shopping, spending time on the internet, driving/riding from one point to another, busy, busy, busy.  We take little time to talk to, much less listen to, the Father who created us. He sends us the beauty of nature and we complain about the snow, the heat, the rain, the weeds. He gives us the miracle of babies yet they are aborted and abused.  He’s provided us with the Eucharist yet how often do we thank Him for the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus?  Holy Week begins in a couple of days as we commemorate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and a few days after that we begin our own “high holy days”, the Triduum.  I pray that during this holy time we really spend time listening to what our Creator, our Father is saying to us and that we strive to truly live as His children.

by Judy Michaud

Follow Jesus

As we continue this journey towards Holy Week and the celebration of Christ's victory over death may we renew our commitment to follow Him.

Met in Our Weakness

The fifth week of Lent is upon us.  Already?  Yep.  Can you believe it?  I feel like it was just a few days ago that I was gearing up for 40 days of prayer & penance.  The beginning of Lent is always a great opportunity to take a good look at ourselves, examine the areas we need to change, and then go about making commitments to do so.  And here we are 5 weeks later.  Is anyone else finding themselves frustrated at the ways they’ve failed to remain faithful to the Lenten commitments made?  Wishing the last four weeks of Lent had resulted in perfect sanctity rather than a reminder of our weakness?  The perfectionist in me certainly is.  But as I took a few minutes to reflect on this, I realized that this is in fact what Lent is all about.  Recognizing that we cannot become holy on our own.  Admitting that we need a Savior.  And the good news is this: It is precisely in our weakness that Christ meets us!

How many times do we go to prayer attempting to have it all together?  Trying to present ourselves to God as worthy and pious?  This isn’t what He desires.  He desires our honesty, our vulnerability.  The reality is that we don’t deserve his love and we will never have it all together without his grace.  Certainly we are called to strive for virtue and proactively receive grace into our lives.  But we cannot achieve perfection on our own.  The woman at the well couldn’t quench her own thirst.  The man born blind couldn’t make himself see.  Lazarus couldn’t raise himself from the dead.  Neither can we make ourselves holy.  As we enter into this last week of Lent and approach the Triduum, let us come before Christ stripped of everything and allow Him to meet us in our weakness.

By Sarah Houde

Seeking Mercy

"In order to respond to the call of God and start on our journey, it is not necessary to be already perfect. We know that the prodigal son's awareness of his own sin allowed him to set out on his return journey and thus feel the joy of reconciliation with the Father. Weaknesses and human limitations do not present an obstacle, as long as they help make us more aware of the fact that we are in need of the redeeming grace of Christ."

Pope Benedict XVI

Message for the 43rd World Day of Prayers for Vocations
March 30, 2006

I am a sinner.  I am broken. I fail to love my wife, my children, my family, friends, co-workers and enemies the way they deserve.  I am aware of this reality.

Pope Benedict XVI’s words above remind us of the importance of recognizing, in humility, our fallen nature.  This recognition is a wonderful starting point each and every day to drawing deeper into a relationship with our merciful Father in Heaven. It is precisely when we are vulnerable – empty if you will – that we are in a state ready to receive Christ’s “redeeming grace.”

The beautiful story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32) is meant to draw us into a more complete understanding of God as Love and His desire to shower mercy upon us.  I gained a greater appreciation of this story when I read a little about Jewish customs at the time of Jesus.  When the younger son asks for his “inheritance” he was in effect telling his father that he was dead to him.  Imagine the pain that the father must have felt in the deepest core of his being.  According to custom the father would give the son what was his share of the inheritance but there was a “condition.”  The son could not come back.  In fact, if he came back he could be treated as a vagabond or a thief coming to steal from the property and be killed.

The son would have known this reality, which makes his decision to go back to his father more compelling.  In a way he would have known that he was going back to his own death.  This understanding of the story greatly enhances the point that Jesus is trying to make about the love of God for his fallen away children.

Not only do we find the father looking out for his son (Jesus clearly wants us to know that the father was doing so every day after the son left), but also he runs to his lost son and lavishes upon him forgiveness, mercy and love. He runs to the son who had called him dead and exclaims, “This son of mine was dead, and has come to life again.”  The “irony” is not meant to be lost upon the listener or reader. Can you imagine the crowd who was listening to Jesus tells this story the first time and how stunning this turn of events would have been to them?  Yet the message is clear: God will always be looking to shower his lost children with His forgiveness, mercy and love.  God always runs after us. No matter how sinful or broken we are.

“Weaknesses and human limitations do not present an obstacle, as long as they help make us more aware of the fact that we are in need of the redeeming grace of Christ."  I am a sinner. I am broken.  I fail to love.  Yet I pray daily that the awareness of my shortcomings fuel my desire to be holy and my deepest longing to seek and receive the “redeeming grace of Christ.”

May this continuing season of Lent offer us more opportunities to grow in such consciousness and seek the healing love of Jesus Christ.

- Michael Lavigne

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is promoting “The Light is On For You.”  Every parish/cluster in the state will have at least one church site open every night from April 11-15 from 6-7p.m. for confession and time of quiet reflection.