Don't miss it

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

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The most sacred and solemn eight days in the church year begins April 9 with the start of Holy Week on Palm Sunday.

Holy Week, to put it into secular terms, is "March Madness," the Super Bowl and the World Series all rolled into one. To continue with that image, the Triduum - the three-day liturgy that unfolds on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil - is the championship game, the second half of the Super Bowl, the seventh game of the World Series.

In this three-day liturgy we see a "slow-motion replay" of the mystery of our redemption, which we celebrate in each Mass all year. On Holy Thursday, the focus is on the Last Supper and Jesus' example of loving service in the washing of the feet. On Good Friday, we focus on his Passion and death on the cross, in loving sacrifice for us. For the Easter Vigil, a series of readings reminds us of why Jesus came and what his life and death mean as we celebrate his resurrection and accept the challenge to bring his light to the world with a renewal of our baptismal vows.

Holy Week, but particularly the Triduum, is the culmination of our Lenten journey. To skip the Triduum after going through Lent would be like going to every Packer practice and seeing every game, then not watching them play in the Super Bowl. Let's fill our churches for the Triduum. It's truly "the big game."