Dear Friends in Christ,
With the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, we begin the most holiest days of the year called the Paschal Triduum. During these days, we walk with Jesus on “the way of love”, walking with Him through the Passion and His glorious resurrection.
Over the past two years, I have written three reflections on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil liturgies. This year, I urge you to immerse yourself in the Liturgical actions and texts.
Some may say, “Paschal Triduum Liturgies are long…”. Yes, indeed they are long in time, but why do we care about how long a Liturgy is? We look at our watch when celebrating the Liturgy but don’t even care about time when we are on social media or playing games on our computers or phones. Why are we so hesitant to spend more than two hours with Christ?
The Liturgy, with appropriate preparations and active participation of the faithful becomes something very beautiful. The Liturgies of the Triduum are rich in meaning and contains many rites celebrated from the time of the Early Church. Though there have been changes to the Liturgy throughout the history, the basis of the Paschal Triduum is the same: to celebrate the death and resurrection of Our Lord. It is because of the Paschal Mysteries that we can call ourselves “Christian” today.
During these days, we also walk with the Catechumens, to be fully initiated into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil. These days are special to them as they complete their formation and prepared to become Children of God through baptism, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through confirmation and united with Christ through the Eucharist. As we walk with them, we are also reminded of our own baptismal journey. Though many of us may have been baptized at a young age and we may not be able to recall what happened during the rite of our baptism, the liturgies during these days remind us of our baptism promises.
I wish all of you a Holy Easter and hope you will actively participate in all the Liturgies during the climax of the Liturgical Year.
In Christ,
Vincent Pham
Vincent Pham 