THE TRIDUUM: OUR HOLIEST DAYS OF THE YEAR

The Triduum challenges us as disciples of Jesus to “pass over” from our old ways and to go forth to a new life of freedom, an invitation to a new way of seeing and being. It requires our letting go of things we may regard as important.

This Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ, is too big to celebrate in one day or even three. A lifetime does not suffice for us to ponder the mystery of God revealed in the passion and resurrection of Jesus. We are invited to enter into these three days with open hearts as we celebrate the mystery of our faith.

March 29, 7:00pm
Holy Thursday (Mass of the Lord's Supper)
We gather as a family to commemorate the supper of the Lord on the night before He died. We celebrate this sacrament of love unto death. We celebrate our own sacrament of service — the washing of the feet. We celebrate “being Church” and our mission to serve one another in love.

March 30, 7:00pm
Good Friday (Celebration of the Lord’s Passion)
The emphasis today is on the cross. It is not on death. This is a day of conversion, for the love of God is made most manifest in the death of Christ. We do not mourn. We celebrate not sorrow but the victory of the cross. We move more deeply into the Paschal Mystery—the mystery of life and death in our own lives.

March 31, 8:00pm
The Easter Vigil (Nightwatch of the Lord’s Resurrection)
On this most holy night, we gather at the fire to tell the stories we hold dear, the stories our ancestors gave us as a heritage. We wait alongside the waters of baptism to pass through the waters to the banquet table of new life. “This is the Night” for our broken world to be made whole. We renew our baptismal promises. We celebrate with our catechumens and candidates.

We are sent forth to be light for those in darkness, to be story for those without hope, to be rebirth and resurrection for those in death and decay, to be bread and wine for those who are starving for food, for love, and for God.