The Easter Triduum

Next week is Holy Week - the most important week in the Church’s year. At then end of it we celebrate the three most important days in the Church’s year - the Easter Triduum. During those three days - Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Eve - we will not just be remembering the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we will also be sharing in their life-giving power. At every Eucharist we take part in the death and resurrection of Jesus made present in the sacrifice of the Mass. These three days are like an extended Mass, giving us time not just to remember but also to be immersed.

The Christian faith is rooted in history, but it is not bound by it. What happened in the life of Jesus now happens in the lives of those who believe in him. In the sacraments they die with Christ so that they may live with him. Baptism is both a tomb and a womb (see the Letter to the Romans). The Eucharist celebrates the life-giving death of Jesus. In the Easter Triduum the mystery of faith that we proclaim at every Mass is made more vivid, and we express our confidence that ‘dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life’. P.D.