#Easter Triduum

[mercurygray]

Friends, it's been a day, so I'm going to go to church and watch some people wash some feet and sing some really old songs and call it a night.

[fairfieldthinkspace]

Easter tells us to embrace the fullness of our humanity

Rev. Paul K. Rourke, S.J.

Vice President for Mission and Ministry

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me…

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

-John Donne

I find comfort in these defiantly hopeful words from one of Donne’s “Holy Sonnets,” which I first read as a high school freshman. Since last Easter, death has been a persistent and menacing addition to my year. Unexpectedly, I lost my brother, John, last June. Over the last few months, I have lost a friend to a violent carjacking and two Jesuit brothers dear to me and the whole Fairfield University and Prep community: Frs. Charlie Allen, S.J., and Jim Bowler, S.J.  I loved and looked up to all these men, and miss them terribly. Death has robbed and humbled me, but I no longer feel in the mood to be deferential.  With Donne I feel defiant, and following his example, I say, “Death, I’ve had enough of you!” Surely, Easter is a time for all of us to join in defying death. For our Jewish brothers and sisters, too, the Passover commemorates the Lord’s deliverance of his people from death. The Angel of Death did not claim the first-born of the Chosen People or defeat the Lord’s covenant, but freed the People of Israel from bondage.

The Paschal Mystery the Church celebrates in the Easter Triduum defies death in a singular way: instead of sanitizing or ignoring it, death is confronted head-on and elevated just as it is consigned to oblivion: gory, ignominious death becomes forever the sacrament of our salvation, a reality utterly transformed and transforming. The Risen Jesus is a Wounded Jesus, but his wounds no longer define his destiny: they led to his death, but the Son of God has given them their ultimate meaning: marks of death’s ultimate powerlessness and proof that he will never abandon his humanity. 

Whether or not we have tasted much death in our lives, we, too, are wounded in a world simultaneously infatuated with, and in denial of, death. If the news out of Ukraine or Israel and Gaza have not wounded us with grief, then death has wounded us even more grievously: with stony hearts. However we are wounded, Easter tells us to embrace the fullness of our humanity as Jesus did (his own and ours). The voice of Death tells us to fear our weakness and hide our wounds in shame, but Jesus reminds us that God wants to raise, transform, and glorify every part of us, not just the parts we are proud of. He wants to do the same for all of us, and we are commanded to embrace the wounded brothers and sisters all around us with sacrificial love. When we hide from their pain, or ignore their dignity, we keep our tomb closed with the stone of indifference.

When we defy death and embrace the fullness of life God offers (in ourselves and each other), Easter becomes more than another day on the calendar: it becomes the center and meaning of every day.  When that happens, we can say in the same joyful confidence of Donne’s poem, “Death, thou shalt die.”

Image by Freepik

[the-oddest-inkling]

Catholic Question: I had a really bad day today and didn't follow any laws regarding the fasting and abstinence rules for Good Friday. What am I supposed to do now as I feel really bad about it?!

[virtie333]

Well, I am done with work for the week! I was scheduled for today, but the roads still suck. Where it's not drifted over it's super icy. My wonderful boss left it up to me and I elected to stay home. It doesn't help that my barn neighbor and I had to slog almost 1/4 mile through knee high drifts, carrying water, to the horses this morning because two of the automatic waterers are frozen. I am wiped out! But now I am free until Monday, ready to sleep, write, read, and (when it warms up tomorrow) spend time with my horse and dog. Just one more cold night and spring will finally arrive! Happy Easter!

[cmcsmen]

Easter Greeting From Catholic Men Chicago Southland

He submerged himself into our mess and it was our mess that killed him. Easter is primarily a celebration of forgiveness, of reconciliation and absolution. What moves us to our depths; what shocks us in our surprise is the realization that God the Father did not take vengeance on us for what we did to his Son but has decided to start over again with us in such a remarkable way of raising his Son to life again and wrapping us up with him in that Life. This indeed is what Easer is all about. Each year on the feast of the Resurrection we Christians climb to the roof tops, as it were, and shout out to the world a piece of Good news that has disturbed the status quo of the world ever since, namely, that our God in Jesus Christ is alive when evil men meant him dead. For this reason, Easter is more than an event. More than one Sunday in the calendar when we munch on chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chickadees. Easter is an attitude. Easter is liberation. Easter is Life, our life in the here and now and hereafter. Let this feast of feasts for Christians be the day to start over, to cross the chasm, to repair the broken, to rediscover God’s extraordinary grace transforming our most ordinary days.

-- Bishop Joseph N. Perry of Chicago

A Blessed Holy Easter to all our readers and participants with our Men’s Prayer Groups and Forums, from Catholic Men Chicago Southland. Let us pray for each other!

[prolifeproliberty]

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

[many-sparrows]

When Jesus prayed for the cup to pass before him, I imagine Palm Sunday was echoing in his ears. The cries of "Hosanna-- deliver us!" And the faces of the sick he healed in the temple before driving out the money lenders must surely have been on his mind, with the devotion and bewilderment of his friends as he knelt to wash their feet. He Loved them til the end. He Loved them to the end. LOVE brought him out of the garden and to the cross.

[jameslmartello]

Blessed Solemnity of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia!

[septembersung]

Adam lay y-bounden Anonymous, c. 1450 The New Oxford Book of Christian Verse, ed. Donald Davie

Adam lay y-bounden Bounden in a bond; Four thousand winter Thought he not too long; And all was for an apple An apple that he took, As clerks finder written In theire book.

Ne had the apple taken been, The apple taken been, Ne hadde never our Lady A been heaven's queen. Blessed be the time That apple taken was! Therefore we may singen 'Deo Gratias!'

[catholic-saint-tournament]

If you want to know more about what these mean, click here.

[gingerylangylang1979]

The continued “surprise” of the success of quality faith-based films makes me laugh.

The Chosen, Jesus Revolution, and His Only Son have all drawn this shocked response in the media for being successful on the big screen. Why? This reminds me of the shock when a movie like The Woman King did big numbers. Black women spend money, people of faith spend money. What is the big shock and awe? Yes, the numbers for Christians in organized religion are declining but believers are still two-thirds of the population. This niche in entertainment is moving beyond the corny, over-zealously preachy offerings of the past. Good stories that are universal are being produced with high production values and great performances. Why wouldn’t they be hits?

I know it’s not cool to be Christian these days (was it ever? The bible says we will be hated, should be hated). I know churches have been embroiled in scandal, I know someone’s uncle or granny is a mean-spirited bigot loser who uses their religion for evil, not good (and some of those people have some really weird ideas, and some of those people have too much power).

But what is the secular world offering that is so great? Isn’t the secular world corrupt and the crimes against humanity done by corporations and governments (they are really the same thing) atrocious and they should really be our enemy? The message I get from most of society is sell yourself out for money and power at all costs, that is the only way. Superficiality.

We are all made to worship. We do all worship. It’s just some choose hollow idols like social media, “self care”,  vanity, sex, false identities, celebrities, politics, the universe (whatever that means). I choose my maker (yes, I struggle daily). What else is worthy? None of those other things love you back. 

At the end of the day when you look at the Christian message, the gospel, for what it really is, it is all good. We soil it because we are human, but it does not mean we dismiss the message. The message is pure. These works on film are delivering that purity in a time we crucially need it. So instead of being dumbfounded the media should look at why these creations are resonating in the least Christian time perhaps ever. 

I just got back from my parish’s Holy Thursday service. I was riveted, moved to tears, humbled. People need to experience more of that. The sacred cannot be replaced. 

@ me all you want. 

[iloveyoutoinfinity]

I’m back!

ALLELUIA!!!

Oh, hang on! Gotta change theme colors! 🏳️‍🌈

TA-DAAAAAAAA!!!! Now I’m Easter themed!!! HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!! 🏳️‍🌈💖

Thank you!

[wiosnadytyramb]

Wielki Czwartek | Maundy Thursday

Audio: https://youtu.be/iC8hyJolM3M

[virtie333]

Holy Thursday 2023

[theridgebeyond]

Video description and closed caption beneath the cut.

I never post these kinds of things, but it’s Holy Saturday and I’m singing the main song from Jesus Christ Superstar on my banjolele.

The musical is deeply flawed and antisemitic (I particularly hate the line about the Buddha and Prophet Muhammad, as if they were the “Jesus” of their respective religions), but this scene is everything.

It’s not just Judas surrounded by disco girls asking Jesus whether he thought about his brand. It’s Judas, risen from the dead, asking a Jesus who will never see the Resurrection (the show ends with the sealing of the tomb) what the point of it all was.

Holy Saturday is a day where we, like the disciples the first day after Jesus’s death, contemplate a world without Jesus. We meditate on a world without a Resurrection and whether our lives would be any different. We get to look at a God locked in a tomb and wonder what the point of it all was.

Video description:

Video of a young white woman playing the banjolele and singing “Superstar” from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She has long blonde hair, brown glasses, green earrings, and gray turtleneck, and a dark blue cardigan. At one point, she smiles at her dog off-camera, who wants to let her know that the washing machine is running and he is quite concerned about it.

Closed captions:

*acoustic banjolele and amateur (but sincere) singing, occasional jingling and puppy shakes*

Every time I look at you I don't understand

Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.

You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned.

Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land?

If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation.

Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

Don't you get me wrong. Don't you get me wrong, now. (x2)

I only want to know. I only want to know now. (x2)

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. Who are you? What have you sacrificed? (x2)

Jesus Christ Superstar. Do you think you're what they say you are? (x2)

Tell me what you think about your friends at the top.

Who'd you think besides yourself's the pick of the crop?

Buddha, was he where it's at? Is he where you are?

Could Mohammed move a mountain, or was that just PR?

Did you mean to die like that? Was that a mistake, or

Did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?

Don't you get me wrong. Don't you get me wrong, now. (x2)

I only want to know. I only want to know now. (x2)

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. Who are you? What have you sacrificed? (x2)

Jesus Christ Superstar. Do you think you're what they say you are? (x2)

[daretoliveinhim]

Visita Iglesia and Holy Triduum Reflections

Holy Thursday 1st Reading:  Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 – The Lord commands Moses and Aaron to mark the new year and prepare for Passover.  Each Israelite family is to select a flawless lamb, share as needed, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  The lamb’s blood will protect them from the impending plague, signifying the Lord’s mercy as He strikes Egypt but spares His people,…