Daily Homily 4-9-2020 Easter Triduum (2020) (Fr. Mark-Personal Reflection)

Easter Triduum (2020) (Fr. Mark-Personal Reflection)

The Easter Triduum is a liturgy that I have celebrated my whole life.  When I was eight years old, I became a server, so I had a front row seat at Triduum services from that time until now.

For four days in a row our family would go to church.  I remember my mother and father who were the unofficial sacristans undertaking various tasks.  My mother would pull out the various silk cloths to decorate the altar of repose where the Blessed Sacrament would be reserved on Holy Thursday. 

On good Friday I would help hold the cross as people would come forward to reverence it.  The young children would come forward in fear, the young and middle age adults would come to reverence the cross with a variety of expressions.  Some would have a look or worry.  Others might kiss the cross quickly and walk away not wishing to confront the woundedness represented there.  The old and the sick would shuffle up.  Some might be dying or have chronic illness.  The adoration of the cross probably meant the most to them because they carried crosses every minute of every day.

We would then move on to Easter Vigil. Our parish priest would have a small fire outside the church.  We would come into the pitch-black church going up some steep steps lit only by the Easter candle.  Usually, I would be carrying the censor walking behind the priest.  The priest would cry out, “The light of Christ” with his craggy voice.  When the Gloria was sung the lights would be thrown on. The mood would immediately shift.

On Easter morning we would all take up candles and repeat our baptismal promises.  Hallelujahs would be sung, and a joy would be in our hearts as we traveled to visit our grandparents at home to wish them a Happy Easter. Usually, other relatives would be there and there would be a sense of security as we reconnected with them.

Through the years I have had the privilege to preside at many Triduum Services as a priest. The excitement around these liturgies has always been affirming. The most joy has come from initiating new Catholic Christians into the church.

Everyone knows that this year will be different from any Easter of our lives.  There will be no public liturgies.  Only essential people will be present in churches around the country.  Other people will look on from afar as they watch television or take part through social media.    “Distancing” is antithetical to what the liturgy is all about. How are we to feel?

We might feel like the earliest Christians.  We remember how the apostles retreated to the upper room after Jesus was arrested Holy Thursday.  They waited there in fear.  None of them dared to venture out because they were afraid, they would be arrested.  Despair was in their hearts.  The disciples did not know what to think.  All they could do was wait. And then, the Gospel of John says simply, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked….Jesus came and stood in their midst.

We wait right now in all our uncertainty.  The next three days will be spent in solitude. It is an isolation that we did not choose, but it has been chosen for us. We will not be out running around frantically getting ready for a holiday, but we will be at home with a certain fear in our hearts.  Faith tells us that Jesus will come to us.  Fear will not have the last word. Jesus will call us back out in the street.  He has not forgotten us.  We will have a mission when the present crisis is over. Let us prayerfully ask where the Spirit is calling us.

The schedule for our streamed services is:

Holy Thursday:   7 p.m.

Good Friday:       3 p.m.

Easter Sunday     8 a.m.