Make Holy Week Holy
Lent ends and the Easter Triduum begins with the Vigil of Holy Thursday. It marks the end of the 40 days of Lent and the beginning of the three-day celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil/Easter Sunday. On Thursday, Jesus shared The Last Supper with his apostles and offered them the example of service by washing their feet. He was subsequently arrested and tried. He was crucified at Calvary on Friday, outside the gates of Jerusalem. He was buried the same day, and arose three days later, on Easter Sunday.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council reminded us of the extraordinary significance of the Triduum : “Christ redeemed us all and gave perfect glory to God principally through his paschal mystery: dying he destroyed our death and rising he restored our life. Therefore the Easter Triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire liturgical year.” (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, # 18)
The 40 Days of Lent were a time of preparation for these great three days, which is what Triduum means. These three days lead us to an empty tomb and an Octave (eight days) of celebrating the Resurrection. They also introduce an entire liturgical season, the Easter Season, which lasts for 50 days until Pentecost.
Make Holy Week special. Take steps to indicate that this is not life as usual but a special time set apart. Do that through what you eat, what you do in the evenings, what you talk about, and what you do upon waking and going to sleep. For example, you might set aside an evening to read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ passion and death. Attend the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil with its candle-lit procession into the church, tracing of salvation history in the Liturgy of the Word, celebration of baptisms and welcoming those joining the Catholic faith. At every Easter Mass, we renew our baptismal promises.
If you know of Easter and Holy Week traditions from your ethnic heritage, introduce them to your children. Many families decorate eggs – symbols of the Resurrection – or put together Easter baskets. My family pickled eggs – something I now do! The story of Jesus’ suffering and death are at the heart of Christian faith. They are at the heart of our very existence and meaning. It’s easy to be too busy or too distracted to attend to these rites and lessons. Make Holy Week holy by making sure its not just an ordinary week for ordinary things.