We begin the high point of our Church liturgical year today. What a Sunday is to the week, the Triduum is to the whole year. Today, Holy Thursday, tomorrow, Good Friday, and Saturday at the Easter Vigil, we immerse ourselves in and celebrate the “Paschal Mystery.”
The phrase, the Paschal Mystery, is familiar. But sometimes, we can think of it in shorthand fashion and reduce it, more or less, to the dying and the rising of Jesus. The trouble with that is it can mistakenly imply that our participation in the “Paschal Mystery” happens when we die. We’re supposed to lead a good moral life so when we die we can share in the resurrection that Christ won for us.
But the Paschal Mystery is far, far greater than that. The word “paschal” comes from an Aramaic word that means “pass over,” and we use it to refer to two things:
First, it refers to the night the angel of death “passed over” the homes of the Jewish people, who put the blood of a lamb on their doorpost.
Second, it includes the great passage of Jesus from God to the human race: his passage through life through suffering, through death, his ascending to God, his sending of the Spirit upon us, and his gathering of all creation into the reign of God. In the Triduum, we immerse ourselves in, and we celebrate this “great passage” (which might be a more precise term).
This “great passage” of Jesus is not complete. It is a colossal enterprise, and it’s going on now, as we speak. The entry of Jesus into creation, his life, death, rising, ascending, sending of the Spirit, and gradual gathering of creation into the reign of God has changed everything.
This colossal enterprise is beyond our understanding. It is the Lord who is accomplishing it. It’s good to keep that in mind, especially in bad times:
when our hopes for the world or the Church are unfulfilled
when we face huge problems
when everything seems futile
During those times, we realize that it isn’t our enterprise. It’s the Lord’s, but we have a part in it.
The Lord carries on this great passage by working through us. Each of us was created by God and purposely put here on earth to be part of this enterprise’s working out. Each of us has a role that is precisely our own. I don’t care what color your skin is. I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman. I don’t care if you’re rich or you’re poor. I don’t care if you’re a layperson or a bishop. I don’t care if you’re married or single. I don’t care if you’re healthy or sick, educated or uneducated. Each of us is created and placed here by God and called to play our part in making this passage happen.
We accomplish our purpose simply by trying to live the Gospel in whatever life circumstances we find ourselves. In the words of St. Francis DeSales, “Live Jesus,” remembering that every single day of our lives is part of this remarkable passage. What we accomplish may not seem important to us, but it is essential, like a tiny jewel in a grand mosaic. We may not fully understand its meaning in this life, but we will in the next.
The Triduum is a beautiful liturgical moment in the year. We celebrate the “great passage” that Jesus began when he became part of this world and the great enterprise he calls us to share. Let us begin this day rejoicing.
Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
