This past weekend, Canon Lasch offered a fine sermon for Palm Sunday and continued our Way of Love theme by addressing the fifth component, bless. She was able to connect the blessing that was taking place in the way persons in the passion narrative cared for Jesus and one another, and of course how Jesus blesses us, as well. She also asked us to consider how we can be active in blessing others in the world around us, as we go about our daily lives. For those who follow the example of Jesus, the Way of Love, blessing is a central part of who we are and what we do.
Tomorrow, we begin the Triduum, or “the three days.” Beginning in the evening on Thursday, the Triduum connects everything from Maundy Thursday until Easter evening. In those seventy-two hours, we find the heart of the Christian experience of God and God’s love for the world. The heart, of course, is literal and figurative in that the heart is the love of God as we know it in Jesus Christ who was incarnate in human form. His final days, from what he taught and did for his disciples, to his arrest and trial, to his death, and finally his resurrection, are some of the holiest days in human history. Recalling them the way we do gives us a chance to enter into them.
As we consider blessing in our own lives, in relation to how blessing shows up in these remembrances, we are offered an incredible opportunity to meet God through liturgy and prayer in the coming days. Each of these services offers a special holy remembering, almost a reenacting of powerful acts of devotion. We remember our place at the table at the Last Supper on Thursday, after we have had our feet washed and or washed the feet of another. In that, we remember that Jesus’ unconditional love is to be received and shared. We are there as the world is cast into darkness and doubt as Jesus is taken away; we strip the altar bare in remembrance of all those who deserted Jesus and left him alone. We’re in the middle of that, too. On Friday, we are in the crowd again for Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. We might gather on the side of the road as he drags his cross to that deadly hill, or a stone’s throw away as he breathes his last.
These remembering moments in the Church are what we call anamnesis, a fancy way of saying that we get to enter into the mystery of God’s saving acts. When we do this, as we do each Sunday in the eucharist, time and space evaporate, and we are with Jesus and his disciples. If you want a chance to bless our Lord, and to be blessed by Him, participating in all the liturgies of the Triduum is an incredible way to do both. These liturgies are among the most powerful we will ever be a part of. It’s a lot to set aside two evenings in a row “for church,” just to be followed by a big Sunday celebration days later. And yet, our time spent with God and our Lord Jesus Christ to enter into these moments is a gift we often tend to take for granted.
If coming to church isn’t possible for you, at the very least, I recommend reading the biblical passages that recall these events at home and spending some time with them and with God. Your connection will be a blessing, I am quite sure. Ultimately, it is because of where we’re headed, where Jesus is headed, that we bless others with joy. The gift we find in the resurrection of Jesus is so great that we overflow with God’s blessings. It’s only right that we share it with others. Before we get to that point, there is a great price to be paid for that gift. If we want to experience the reality of blessing, we can’t skip over that payment.
Tom+
Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other that the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Photo Description: The second photo is a place in Jerusalem that tradition says Jesus leaned against the wall on his way to Golgotha.