It is Holy Week, the week of special celebrations leading up to the highest Holy Day of the Church year: Easter. As holy as the entire week is, the final three days are most special and most unique.
Beginning at sundown on Thursday, we begin the sacred Triduum. Literally translated, Triduum means "three days." What we celebrate during the Triduum is a three-day liturgy. This liturgy speaks loudly of the things that are central to our Catholic faith. Here is a brief summary, starting with the climax and working backwards to Thursday:
- The Resurrection (Easter) — we believe that death does not have the final word, that there is a part of us that is touched by God and has become divine, and therefore we are destined to live with God forever when we leave our earthly bodies behind.
- Jesus' commitment to his ministry of peace and justice (Good Friday) — Jesus led a life of feeding the hungry, healing the broken, and liberating the captives, and he did not back away from that ministry even though political and religious leaders of his time saw his work as a threat. He was even willing to go to a cruel death in order to bring about a more just world, a world that is reconciled with God.
- The importance of the Eucharist (Holy Thursday) — Jesus, in his human body, understood that we need to eat, and so he gave us the richest of foods, his very self, so that he can enter our bodies and use us to carry on his mission after his Ascension. That mission is one of love and compassion, especially toward the least and the lowest, as represented by the washing of feet that we do on Holy Thursday.
