These holy days

On Sunday we began the silent walk with Jesus to his cross.  Regardless of how we're feeling about the fruition of our Lenten observances, this is the week for our full attention. This is the week to push aside competing noise and keep vigil with our God - because this week marks the culmination of everything that we believe.  These are the holy days that give meaning to our very existence.

But this is also a time for family trips and Easter celebrations.  These realities, too, require our planning, preparation, and attention.   How can we accomplish both the temporal and the spiritual?  We are limited.  We are weak.  We are human.  This is precisely the point!  It is only in surrendering our frail humanity to God that we can be healed and share in the blinding light of the Resurrection.

We proclaim in our creed that our faith is "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic."   Perhaps it is in this oneness and universality that we can find the way.  This week, every Catholic church in the entire world will celebrate the ritual of Three Days known as the Easter Triduum   The Days begin on Holy Thursday evening with the celebration of the Last Supper.  This liturgy continues on Good Friday as we remember Jesus' torture and death, and culminates on Holy Saturday with the blessing of fire and water, the retelling of salvation history, and the resurrection of our buried alleluias.  The three days include our Easter Sunday liturgies and close with Easter's Evening Prayer.  No matter where we are in the world; no matter what else calls for our attention, on these three days we need to make our way to church for at least part of this pilgrimage.  We need to face the God who dwells within; to remember and give thanks; to acknowledge our weaknesses and change our hearts; to be healed.

When I was a child, my grandmother taught us that God invites a wish from anyone visiting a church for the first time.  This little bit of folklore is a sweet reminder that God is always waiting for us. It created in my family the happy anticipation of finding a new (to us) church for our Sunday obligation whenever we were away from home.   If you're traveling for Easter or the Triduum, be sure to include your children in planning the church part of your itinerary.  When and where will you attend Mass?  What will you ask of God as a first-time visitor in this house?  My wish for you will be that your faith will "rise like a blazing fire" during this holiest of weeks.

Happy Easter.