By Sister Phyllis Stowell, SCL
“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamont, Bird by Bird.
That seems preposterous to us who are enlightened. Did Jesus hate at all? No, I think not. All we need to do is look at the holy words of Scripture, music, and rituals of the Triduum to know this is far from true. But…
We still live with our illusions and carefully drawn images of Jesus. Do I know the Jesus we hear of in Scripture? You know- the One who washed dirty feet and prayed to His Father to let the cup of suffering pass him by. This One, the Jesus who trusted enough to be led where he didn’t want to go and to die there, betrayed by many in whom he placed his hope and loved. This Jesus who folded up the burial cloth, rolled back the stone, and consoled those who mourned and were afraid wondering if they were the next ones to die.
- Can you hear Jesus on Holy Thursday when he asks to wash our feet?
- Can you follow him on Good Friday and believe in him hanging half dead between murderers and thieves? Can you serve him in our advocacy for those condemned to death today?
- Can you believe in him, remember His message as the stone gets rolled into place?
Triduum, the three holiest days in our church year, calls us to enter deeply into the mysteries remembered on these days. Is Jesus created in my image or is Jesus asking me to see him clearly and live as did?
May this year’s Triduum be more than chocolate bunnies, jellybeans, and a new Easter outfit. Let’s celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass with lilies, foot washings, and processions; the somberness of Good Friday, the passion of Jesus, with profound quiet; the Holy Saturday celebrations with new fires, lighted candles, stories of our salvation, while waiting in hope.
Questions taken from CHA website, April 1, 2021
Easter lilies photo: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en, photo by Geoff McKay
