Everyone is encouraged to participate in the last three days of Holy Week called the Sacred Triduum.  There are no more beautiful and meaningful liturgies than Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday.  By celebrating these holy days, we immerse ourselves in the saving Passion, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  As Pope Benedict has said:  “These are fitting days for reawakening within us a deeper desire to adhere to Christ and to follow him generously aware that he loved us to the point of giving his life for us” (April 12, 2006).

On Holy Thursday, we celebrate “The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.”  There are three key elements in this liturgy.  One is the institution of the Holy Eucharist.  During the Last Supper, Our Lord celebrated the Passover with his Apostles.  But when he took bread and said, “This is my body,” and when he took wine and said, “This is my blood,” he changed the meaning of that meal.  It was the first Mass.

As the first Mass, it was a sacred banquet in which the Apostles ate the Body of Christ (under the appearance of bread) and drank the Blood of Christ (under the appearance of wine).  It was the presentation beforehand of Our Lord’s suffering and death on the cross.  In order that this sacred banquet and sacrifice be perpetuated throughout the ages, Our Lord made the Apostles the first priests.  He did this when he said to them:  “Do this in memory of me.”  The priesthood is the second key element celebrated in the Holy Thursday liturgy.

The third key element celebrated on Holy Thursday is Our Lord’s example of love for neighbor.  “So, during supper … he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.  He took a towel and tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist” (Jn 13:2-5).  Pope Benedict commented on this action of Christ by saying:  “…he left us the ‘new commandment’ – ‘mandatum novum’ – of brotherly love with the touching gesture of the washing of the feet, which is reminiscent of the humble service of slaves” (April 12, 2006).

Holy Thursday concludes with Eucharistic Adoration.  After the Last Supper, Our Lord and the Apostles went out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Our Lord was to experience his agony.  As the Apostles were asked by Christ to “Remain here, and watch with me” (Mt 26:38), so are we to remain in the church in Eucharistic Adoration and prayer, keeping company with Our Lord.

On Good Friday, the Church celebrates the Lord’s Passion.  This is done with a unique liturgy during which the Passion of Our Lord is proclaimed, petitions for the needs of the Church are recited, the Cross is venerated, and Holy Communion is received.  The celebrant and the congregation sing:  “This is the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.  Come, let us worship.”  Good Friday:  “… is a day of fasting and penance, completely oriented to contemplation of Christ on the Cross” (Benedict XVI, April 12, 2006).  Good Friday concludes by remembering that Joseph of Arimathea:  “After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried” (Lk 23:53).

Holy Saturday/Easter is the celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead.  “But at daybreak on the first day of the week, they [the women] took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”  However, they did see angels, who said to them:  “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?  He is not here, but he has been raised” (Lk 24:1-8).

The Holy Saturday liturgy or Easter Vigil is the most glorious of all liturgies because it celebrates Our Lord’s Resurrection.  The Easter fire is lit; the Exsultet and Gloria are sung; the new Holy water is blessed; new members are welcomed into the Catholic Church, their hearts full of joy; the Eucharist is celebrated; and Alleluias are sung.  To celebrate the Easter Triduum is to be spiritually renewed and refreshed. 

Still, Pope Benedict reminds us:  “…for a fruitful celebration of Easter, the Church asks the faithful in these days [before Easter] to receive the sacrament of Penance, which is like a sort of death and resurrection for each one of us.  Preparing oneself for Easter with a good confession continues to be an action to make the most of, because it offers us the possibility of giving our life a fresh start and of truly having a new beginning in the joy of the Risen One and in the communion of the forgiveness that he gives us” (April 12, 2006).

May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

April, 2008

El Triduo Pascual

Todos están invitados a participar en los tres últimos días de Semana Santa denominados el Triduo Sagrado. No hay nada más hermoso y significativo que las liturgias del Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo y Sábado Santo / Domingo de Resurrección. Al celebrar estos días santos, nos sumergimos en la gracia de la Pasión, Muerte, Entierro y Resurrección de Nuestro Señor y Salvador, Jesucristo. Como el Papa Benedicto ha dicho: "Estos son días de adecuación para volver a despertar en nosotros un profundo deseo de adherirnos a Cristo y seguirlo generosamente conscientes de que él nos amó hasta el punto de dar su vida por nosotros" (12 de abril del 2006).

El Jueves Santo, se celebra "La Misa Nocturna de La Ultima Cena". Existen tres elementos fundamentales en esta liturgia. Una de ellas es la institución de la Eucaristía Santa. Durante la Última Cena, Nuestro Señor celebra la Pascua con sus Apóstoles. Pero cuando él tomó el pan y dijo: "Esto es mi cuerpo", y cuando él tomó el vino y dijo: "Esta es mi sangre", él cambió el sentido de esa comida. Fue la primera misa. El sacerdocio es el segundo elemento clave celebrado en la liturgia del Jueves Santo. 

El tercer elemento clave celebrado el Jueves Santo es el ejemplo de Nuestro Señor de amor por el prójimo. "Hicieron la cena…se levantó mientras cenaba, se quitó el manto, se ató una toalla a la cintura y echó agua en un recipiente. Luego se puso a lavarles los pies a sus discípulos y se los secaba con la toalla" (Jn 13:2-5). El Papa Benedicto comentó sobre esta acción de Cristo diciendo: "... él nos dejó el ‘mandamiento nuevo’ – ‘mandatum novum’ - del amor fraterno mediante el gesto del lavado de los pies, que recuerda el humilde servicio de los esclavos " (12 de abril del 2006). 

El Viernes Santo, la Iglesia celebra la Pasión del Señor. Esto se hace con una única liturgia en la que la Pasión de Nuestro Señor es proclamada, se recitan peticiones por las necesidades de la Iglesia, se venera la Cruz, y se recibe la Sagrada Comunión. El celebrante y la congregación cantan: "Esta es la madera de la cruz, en la que colgó el Salvador del mundo. Venid, adoremos. " Viernes Santo:"... es un día de ayuno y penitencia, totalmente orientado a la contemplación de Cristo en la Cruz " (Benedicto XVI, 12 de abril del 2006). Viernes Santo concluye recordando que José de Arimatea:"Habiéndolo bajado de la cruz, lo envolvió en una sábana y lo depositó en un sepulcro cavado en la roca, donde nadie había sido enterrado aún." (Lc 23:53).

El Sábado Santo / Pascua es la celebración de la Resurrección de Nuestro Señor de entre los muertos. "Pero al amanecer del primer día de la semana, ellas [las mujeres] tomaron las especias que habían preparado y se dirigieron a la tumba. Encontraron la piedra rodada fuera de la tumba, pero cuando entraron, no encontraron el cuerpo del Señor Jesús." Aún, ellos vieron angeles que dijeron: ¿por qué buscan entre los muertos al que vive? No está aquí. Resucitó" (Lc 24:1-8).

La liturgia de Sábado Santo o Vigilia Pascual es el más glorioso de todos los actos litúrgicos, ya que celebra la Resurrección de Nuestro Señor. El fuego Pascual es encendido; el Exsultet y el Gloria son entonados, la nueva agua bendita es bendecida; nuevos miembros son bienvenidos en la Iglesia Católica, sus corazones llenos de alegría, se celebra la Eucaristía, y se cantan Aleluyas. Celebrar el Triduo Pascual es estar espiritualmente renovado y refrescado. 

Que la luz de Cristo, creciente en la gloria, disipe las tinieblas de nuestros corazones y nuestras mentes.