Renew Yourself, Prepare for Final Days of Holy Week

Renewed In Christ
A Reflection on the Paschal Triduum by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry


Beginning Thursday of this week the Universal church will celebrate three days of reflection, prayer, and thanksgiving as they pay honor and tribute to Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. The focus meaning of these three days is all about renewal.
It affords us an opportunity to renew ourselves, our commitment, and our faith in Almighty God.
On Holy Thursday we recall the old and the new. The Old Covenant made with Moses and the New covenant Jesus gave us when He instituted the Eucharist. In the Liturgy the events of that Passover meal Christ and the apostles celebrated are reenacted. During the day all the priests of a diocese gather together to renew their vows of service, the sacred oils used in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation and in healing the sick are blessed for the coming year, and the old ones are burned symbolizing again renewal.
At the Mass of The Lords Supper the celebrant, representing Christ, washes the feet of twelve persons just as Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles. This act signified that Jesus came to, as he said, “If, I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:14-15)
After the liturgy of the Eucharist, the consecrated Eucharist are carried to a place of repose where through the evening the faithful take time to adore Christ present in the Eucharist. The Altar is then stripped, just as Christ was stripped of His garments, and left bare and empty.
On Good Friday, we recall The Lord’s Passion and Death at about three o’clock in keeping with the time Jesus is believed to have died. In many churches and countries the time between twelve and three is set aside for people to walk the Stations of the Cross. At the Good Friday service the Passion is proclaimed, many times with members of the faithful taking part as the voices of the crowd, the narrator, and Christ. After the passion is proclaimed there is veneration of the cross where the faithful approach the cross with the figure of Christ upon it and usually kiss one of the wounds. Many believe that they are kissing the wound that they believe their sins caused Jesus to receive.
The cross is venerated because, it through it the sins of all died on the cross with Jesus, by that act of Jesus giving over of himself we were renewed and given a chance to live a life given over to God and obtain the renewing grace of forgiveness for our sins and the promise of everlasting life with Almighty God when our earthly days are ended.
On Holy Saturday this entire renewal process is brought to fulfillment. The evening vigil liturgy is a powerful and moving living liturgy that renews all. The Liturgy begins in a darkened place, just as the tomb of Christ was dark. The liturgy begins with the blessing of the New fire, representing Christ as the Light of the World, the glory of Christ’s and the New hope Christ brought into the world.
From the new fire The Easter Candle is Blessed and lit and from it all those attending light their individual candles indicating that Jesus brought the light of truth into their lives.
Following the proclamation of the word, the candidates to be received into the faith community are renewed in Baptism and all the faithful renew their Baptismal vows. With this the entire faithful have renewed their lives in Christ.
On Easter Sunday morning, we rejoice in our renewal and the renewal Christ brought to all people with his resurrection.
The message for is is, with Christ, all people have a future, all people of the world have the opportunity to share in everlasting life with God and all the Elect. Christ came to bring salvation to all of God’s children. Just as Christ did not discriminate in who he received into His company, the gift of renewal and salvation earned by Christ was for every human being on the face of the earth.
As true followers of Christ we do not have any justification for deciding who will and who will not be welcome in the presence of God.
As we journey through this most sacrad and wondrous week let us rejoice and be glad, that through Christ, we have been given a total and complete renewal of our lives.
Let us rejoice and give thanks to God for giving us His only begotten son as the sacrificial lamb to renew us.
On Easter morning let us rejoice and be glad and proclaim joyously that Christ has risen. For Easter is the remembrance of God’s giving us the opportunity to completely renew ourselves into persons who respect the diversity and uniqueness of God’s creatures and people who foster and promote the message of love that Christ brought to us. “Love one another as I have loved you” these words of Christ should echo in our minds and heart, for Christ showed us how much he loved us by being willing to suffer and die the ignominious deat on the cross just so we could have the promise of forgiveness and everlasting life with God. The coming days are truly, the days of the Lord.
Let us rejoice and be glad. Let us shout our HOSANNAH, HOSANNAH TO THE SON OF DAVID, HOSANNAH TO CHRIST OUR REDEEMER AND SAVIOR. THROUGH YOU WE HAVE BEEN RENEWED.
LET US GO FORWARD FROM THIS DAY ONWARD WITH THE VOW TO LOVE AND SERVE GOD AND EACH OTHER. AMEN