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<At church, they keep inviting us to celebrate the Easter Triduum. What is this?

Triduum means “three days,” usually referring to Christ’s resurrection from the dead “on the third day.” The Easter Triduum refers to the three days beginning with sundown on Holy Thursday and ending with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. Reckoning days from sundown to sundown is still evident in both Jewish and Christian practice.
The Easter Triduum celebrates one continuous feast spread over three days. That feast centers on the commemoration of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening.
The Holy Thursday liturgy flows into a vigil experience with Christ in the Garden. The vigil continues to follow Christ through the Good Friday events of his arrest, trial, scourging and nailing to the cross, leading to his death. Good Friday ends with a veneration of the cross on which Jesus died, as we commemorate his death and burial.
Holy Saturday is spent in quiet reflection on Christ entombed as we anticipate the resurrection joy fully celebrated at sundown during the Easter Vigil. Nine Scripture readings recount God’s constant love from the beginning of time, culminating in the person of Jesus. During the Vigil, the elect are fully initiated by being baptized into Christ and fully welcomed at the community’s eucharistic table.
The Triduum Easter feast culminates with the Resurrection joy of Easter Sunday. The one continuous feast comes to a close with Easter Sunday’s evening prayer.
Make an effort this year to enter fully into the one continuous feast of the Easter Triduum.
©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc, New Berlin, WI 53151

Used with permission

For more information, please click the following link:

http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/triduumquestions.shtml

What does John’s account of raising Lazarus from the dead say concerning our Lenten faith journey?

The raising of Lazarus, unique to John’s Gospel, is the narrative proclaimed on the fifth Sunday of Lent in Year A. The account is rich in affirmations concerning who Jesus is and what his ministry is all about.
The structure and purpose of John 11 is similar to the healing of the blind man in John 9. The former focuses on Jesus as the giver of life in the midst of death, while the latter highlights Jesus as the light of the world in the midst of darkness. Both accounts offer illuminatingi nsights into the Lenten faith journey.
The “I am” statement that Jesus asserts as he raises Lazarus from the dead is rich with Lenten meaning. Jesus proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26)
Death, the ultimate boundary to be crossed, is now, through Jesus, removed of all its sting and darkness. Jesus is the Lord of life for all who believe. No matter what death brings, it will not endure, for Jesus has overcome death. Anyone who believes will share in that eternal life.
As we prepare to celebrate the Easter Vigil, the ultimate celebration of the victory of life over death, ask God to give you the strength to deal with the many deaths that occur in your everyday life.
©2008 Liturgical Publications Inc, New Berlin, WI 53151

Used with permission

What is the significance of all the sacramentals-holy water, candles, incense?

When the younger children in grade school come to Mass, they understand the homilies best when there are lots of visual aids. Clocks, treasure chests, oversize pencils, flashlights and props of all kinds help them grasp the meaning of the Gospel and how it applies to them. Their attention is focused and they understand what they can see, feel, and hear.
Sacramentals help us connect with the spiritual things we do. They help us focus our attention as well as give us the tools we need to do the spiritual work we want to do. Candles are symbols as well as instruments of prayer; incense directs our thoughts heavenward as well as invoke God’s blessing; holy water reminds us of our baptism; rosaries help us pray; prayer cards do the same. These become the “little tools” of faith, material objects that point to a reality far greater.
Lots of things can become sacramentals. Like family heirlooms, objects can take on meaning and purpose which connects us with God, the church and each other. Some are universally known while others are personal. When we use something to turn our minds to the Lord, we should also remember to put it in our spiritual toolbox. It just might be the thing that helps us open the door that leads to faith.

©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc

Used with permission

The following letter from Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services, shares crucial information about the growing disaster in East Africa:

You are probably starting to hear about a humanitarian crisis unfolding in East Africa, mostly affecting Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Catholic Relief Services staff in the region report dreadful conditions. This just came in from a refugee camp in Kenya:
They’ve walked for days or weeks from Somalia, and their shoes show it. Dusty and worn, the sandals of a little boy dangle in his hand as he wails in the center of the camp. Nearby, his exhausted 22-year-old mother, Momina, rocks her sobbing baby. “We had sheep, goats and cattle—over a dozen,” she says. “They all died from the drought…. Food was running out. So, we left.”
These terrible conditions have sparked an exodus of refugees—mostly women and children—pouring into Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food.
East Africa’s worst drought in more than half a century is causing extreme hunger for more than 11 million people. Severe lack of rainfall has resulted in failed crops, critical shortages in food and water, and countless numbers of livestock dying from dehydration and starvation. Further compounding the crisis are drastic increases in food prices.
All this brings to mind sobering images from the Ethiopian famine of 1984. Who can forget the pictures of emaciated, listless children on TV? The full scope of such a humanitarian catastrophe was not fully realized until after so many had died.
This time is different. This time, we know what is likely to come as the disaster unfolds. I am asking you to help CRS with a generous gift so that we can quickly increase the scope of our efforts there to feed and provide water to as many needy people as possible. Help us prevent another tragedy.
Since 1960, CRS has provided water and agricultural programs in Kenya and Ethiopia, where current drought conditions are not as dire as in Somalia. Your previous gifts are already saving lives because those programs helped us dig deep wells that have helped lessen the drought’s effects. But this drought is so widespread that our existing efforts are not enough. We need your help.
I ask you to please give now and help prevent another disaster like the 1984 Ethiopian famine. Please help our brothers and sisters in East Africa, who so desperately need our help.

For more information or to help, go to http://www.crs.org.

As I write this article, I’m enjoying a lovely North Dakota summer day. The sun is shining, the blue sky is dappled with whispy white clouds, and the gold and orange lillies are blooming outside my office window. It’s a good time to think about the simple things to do to care for this beautiful world God has provided for us.
Here are a few suggestions from the World Wildlife Fund:
 

• Put on a sweater, or take one off. Since the pendulum in N.D. seems to swing between furnace and air conditioning and rarely stops in between, this can help conserve energy.   

• Walk the walk. Drive less, enjoy bicycling, or get to know your neighborhood better by strolling through it

• Go for seconds – guilt free! How many items can be reused instead of thrown away? Padded envelopes, the plastic cell-packs from our seedlings, a plastic water bottle…

• Watch your waste. Oil, paints, ink cartridges, batteries do have special disposal procedures.

• Paper or plastic? No thanks! Bring your own bags along for shopping. Many have commented that bringing cloth bags to the grocery store has now become a habit.

• Flip the switch. As we are enjoying the longer days of summer, we still need to remember to turn off unneeded lights (and other energy-using items).

• Plant a seed, or a tree, a shrub, a tomato plant. The benefits are many and varied.
   
• Return to sender. if you receive too much mail or too many catalogs, contact the companies and have your name removed from their lists. Less clutter at home is an added bonus.

The leaders of more than fifty Christian denominations and organizations, including the presidents of Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities, and Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, have signed the document printed below, calling for our political leaders to protect poor and vulnerable people, as they act to reduce the deficit.

A Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor

In the face of historic deficits, the nation faces unavoidable choices about how to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices. These choices are economic, political — and moral.

As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up — how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected. We know from our experience serving hungry and homeless people that these programs meet basic human needs and protect the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable. We believe that God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms, and to speak out for justice.

As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives, dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people. Therefore, we join with others to form a Circle of Protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad.
1. The nation needs to substantially reduce future deficits, but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.
2. Funding focused on reducing poverty should not be cut. It should be made as effective as possible, but not cut.
3. We urge our leaders to protect and improve poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer world.
4. National leaders must review and consider tax revenues, military spending, and entitlements in the search for ways to share sacrifice and cut deficits.
5. A fundamental task is to create jobs and spur economic growth. Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.
6. The budget debate has a central moral dimension. Christians are asking how we protect “the least of these.” “What would Jesus cut?” “How do we share sacrifice?” As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people.
7. As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people. 

  8. God continues to shower our nation and the world with blessings. As Christians, we are rooted in the love of God in Jesus Christ. Our task is to share these blessings with love and justice and with a special priority for those who are poor.

Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are historic and defining moral choices. As Christian leaders, we urge Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world. It is the vocation and obligation of the church to speak and act on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of these.” This is our calling, and we will strive to be faithful in carrying out this mission.

To learn more about the Circle of Protection and to sign your name to it, go to the Sojourners site- http://www.sojo.org/