• About
    • Our Bishop
      • Bishop's Roll
      • Bishops Ukraine Message
      • The Sacred Paschal Triduum
      • Bishops Lenten Message
      • Lenten Discipline
      • Good Friday Collection
      • Stations of the Cross
      • Bishop Responds
      • Video Log
      • Coat of Arms
      • Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino
    • History: 1982-2019
      • Most Rev. Ricardo Ramírez
      • Most Rev. Oscar Cantú
      • Most Rev. Gerald Kicanas
    • Diocese of Las Cruces Overview
  • Offices
    • Administration
      • Pastoral Center Staff Directory
      • Buildings & Properties
      • Finance
        • Audited Financials
        • Parish Resources
        • Bookkeeper Resources
        • Payroll
      • Communications
        • Social Media Tools and Tips
        • Documents and Forms
        • Tony Magliano
      • Human Resources
        • Employee Benefits
          • Health and Wellness
          • Health and Wellness Program
          • Dental
          • Medical
      • Insurance
        • Risk Management
        • claims
      • Marriage Tribunal
        • Annulments
        • Auditors
        • Civil Marriage Laws in N.M.
        • FAQ
    • Departments
      • Diaconate
        • Deacons Retreat 2022
        • Formation
        • Reflection
          • presentation
        • 2019 Deacon Retreat Registration
        • Deacon Contact Informatoin
        • Deacon Council
          • Deacon Recruitment Resources
      • Safe Environment
      • Prison Ministry
      • Vocations
        • Vocations
        • Meet Fr. Ruben Moreno
        • Meet Our Seminarians
    • Bishop's Office
      • Bishop's Office
    • Development
      • Foundation
        • Planned Gifts
        • FAQ
        • Seminarians
        • Seminarians
          • Meet Seminarian William Contreras
          • Meet Seminarian Franky Rios
          • Meet Seminarian Francis Gyau
        • In legacy of development, foundation and stewardship
        • Catholic schools
        • Diocesan Priests Fund
        • Catholic Charities
      • Aid to Ukraine Donation Site
      • United in Ministry
        • IAMUIM
        • UIM 2022 resources
        • Donation
        • Parish Giving
  • Evangelization & Formation
    • Office of Catholic Schools
      • Our Catholic Schools
        • Catholic Schools Week
        • Contact Us
      • Scholarships Available
    • Evangelization and Formation
      • Catechesis
        • Catechetical Congress 2019
          • English Workshops
          • TALLERES en ESPAÑOL
        • Family Related Resources
        • Faith Formation Resources for Children, Teens, & Adults
      • Liturgy & RCIA
        • Music Ministry Formation Day
          • Music Ministry | St. Ann, Deming
          • Ministerio de Musica | St. Ann, Deming
        • RCIA and Adult Confirmation Catechists September 29
        • RCIA and Adult Confirmation Catechists October 13
      • Parish Ministry Leader Directory
      • San Juan Diego Institute
    • Outreach & Ministry
      • Apostolado Hispano
        • V Encuentro
        • Register
      • Life, Justice and Peace Education and Advocacy
        • Advocacy
        • Poverty Awareness Month
        • Sanctity of Life Mass and Events
        • National Migration Week
    • Family Life
      • Marriage and Family Life
        • Marriage Preparation Facilitator Training
        • Project Oak Tree
          • OTdonation
          • playarea
          • mileage
          • story
          • log
        • TOBET Marriage Prep Resources
        • TOBET Ordering Page
        • CFC
        • volunteer
        • Pastoral Care of the Family
        • Baptism
        • FOCCUS Training
        • Infant Baptism Preparation Program Resources
        • Natural Family Planning Resources
        • Baptism Sponsor Guidelines
        • Adoption
        • Marriages in Trouble
          • Help with Pornography
        • Catechist/Volunteer Support
        • Family Life Resources
        • Marriage Preparation Resources
        • Child Well-Being
      • Youth and Young Adult Ministry
        • Spiritual Resources
  • Resources
    • Secured Employee Document Portal
    • Employment - Job Opportunities
      • Job Opportunities
      • job flyers
    • Easter Sunday 2022
    • Chrism Mass 2022
    • Diocesan Magazine
      • Agua Viva Magazine
        • Advertising
        • Publication Dates
        • Back Issues
      • Diocesan History Series - In Pictures
      • Submit an Event
      • MEDIA RELEASE PALM SUNDAY
    • Resources
      • Online Faith Formation Classes
      • Consecration Russia Ukraine March 2022
      • Solemnity of the Annunciation
      • Synod Resources
      • Catholic Links
    • News & Events
      • Events
      • St Genevieve Lenten Fish Fry
      • Priests Assembly 2022
      • 40 days for life
      • Shroud Visual Gospel
      • Ukraine 2022
      • Rosary for Ukraine
      • Girls Talks San Albino
      • Holy Cross Retreat Center Events
      • Bishop's Knight
      • Theology on Tap
      • News
    • COVID Resources
      • Prayers During A Pandemic
      • Coronavirus Information
  • Parishes
    • Parishes
    • Our Lady of the Light La Luz
    • Detailed Vicariate Map
    • San Luis Rey Chamberino
    • San Pedro Mission Vado
    • San Miguel Arcángel San Miguel
    • Parish Finder
    • Diocesan Directory
  • Contact Us
|||
Diocese of Las Cruces

ROMAN CATHOLIC 

DIOCESE OF LAS CRUCES

  • Safe Environment
  • Diocesan Directory
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
Search
  • About
      • Our Bishop
      • History: 1982-2019
      • Diocese of Las Cruces Overview
  • Offices
    • Administration
      • Pastoral Center Staff Directory
      • Buildings & Properties
      • Finance
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Insurance
      • Marriage Tribunal
    • Departments
      • Diaconate
      • Safe Environment
      • Prison Ministry
      • Vocations
    • Bishop's Office
      • Bishop's Office
    • Development
      • Foundation
      • Aid to Ukraine Donation Site
      • United in Ministry
  • Evangelization & Formation
    • Office of Catholic Schools
      • Our Catholic Schools
      • Scholarships Available
    • Evangelization and Formation
      • Catechesis
      • Liturgy & RCIA
      • Parish Ministry Leader Directory
      • San Juan Diego Institute
    • Outreach & Ministry
      • Apostolado Hispano
      • Life, Justice and Peace Education and Advocacy
    • Family Life
      • Marriage and Family Life
      • Youth and Young Adult Ministry
  • Resources
      • Secured Employee Document Portal
      • Employment - Job Opportunities
      • Easter Sunday 2022
      • Chrism Mass 2022
    • Diocesan Magazine
      • Agua Viva Magazine
      • Diocesan History Series - In Pictures
      • Submit an Event
      • MEDIA RELEASE PALM SUNDAY
    • Resources
      • Online Faith Formation Classes
      • Consecration Russia Ukraine March 2022
      • Solemnity of the Annunciation
      • Synod Resources
      • Catholic Links
    • News & Events
      • Events
      • St Genevieve Lenten Fish Fry
      • Priests Assembly 2022
      • 40 days for life
      • Shroud Visual Gospel
      • Ukraine 2022
      • Rosary for Ukraine
      • Girls Talks San Albino
      • Holy Cross Retreat Center Events
      • Bishop's Knight
      • Theology on Tap
      • News
    • COVID Resources
      • Prayers During A Pandemic
      • Coronavirus Information
  • Parishes
      • Parishes
      • Our Lady of the Light La Luz
      • Detailed Vicariate Map
      • San Luis Rey Chamberino
      • San Pedro Mission Vado
      • San Miguel Arcángel San Miguel
      • Parish Finder
      • Diocesan Directory
  • Contact Us

 

  • What, really, do the liturgies of the triduum celebrate? Most of us believe we know the answer. We assume that Thursday commemorates the day Jesus instituted the eucharist; Friday commemorates the day he was executed on the cross; and the Easter Vigil commemorates his emergence from the tomb. We assume, further, that the liturgies of these days are dramatic “reenactments” of events — by turns touching, tragic, triumphant — which happened during Jesus’ last days and culminated in his victory over death. We assume, in other words, that the paschal triduum is simply springtime’s parallel to winter’s Christmas. As it gathers on these days, the liturgical assembly is often thought to be engaged in acts of historical “reconstruction” that recreate scenes in the “upper room,” on Calvary, and at the tomb. People are encouraged to imagine they are “actually present” at these events — comforting Jesus during his fearful watch on Gethsemane, walking with him along the via crucis, and witnessing his miraculous “return to life” on Easter morning. This view may frequently be reinforced by popular hymns that focus on the “historical facts” of the celebration.
     
              But is “history” the central focus of celebration during the Triduum? Certainly, the early Christian creeds anchored belief in the historical, this-worldly circumstances that accompanied Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion “under Pontius Pilate.” Jesus’ life, career and death were, in other words, attached to a specific time, in a specific place. His proclamation of God’s arrival in the present moment (God’s “reign”), his bold challenge to understand God in and as one’s neighbor, his rejection of “religion” as a means of social or political control — all this took place in some cosmic cloud of unknowing but in a remote province of the later Roman Empire at a time of sociopolitical transition.
     
              Precisely because these faith-anchoring events are historical, however, they cannot be repeated or “reenacted.” That is why the church’s long tradition insists that what happened once in history passes over into the mystery of the assembly’s liturgical/sacramental celebrations. What the paschal triduum actually celebrates is mystery, not history; anamnesis, not mimesis. The liturgies of these days do not “take us back” to the upper room or the path to Calvary. Their ultimate purpose is not to reenact or to relive the last hours of Jesus’ life — nor to catch sight of him emerging from the tomb at Easter’s dawning. They celebrate not what once happened to Jesus but what is now happening among us as a people called to conversion, gathered in faith, and gifted with the Spirit of holiness. They celebrate God’s taking possession of our hearts at their deepest core, recreating us as a new human community broken like bread for the world’s life — a community rich in compassion, steadfast in hope, and fearless in the search for justice and peace.

    *Taken from “The Three Days of Pascha,” Nathan Mitchell, in Assembly, Volume 18:1, Notre Dame Center for Pastoral Liturgy, Notre Dame, IN.

    • About
      • Our Bishop
        • Bishop's Roll
        • Bishops Ukraine Message
        • The Sacred Paschal Triduum
        • Bishops Lenten Message
        • Lenten Discipline
        • Good Friday Collection
        • Stations of the Cross
        • Bishop Responds
        • Video Log
        • Coat of Arms
        • Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino
      • History: 1982-2019
      • Diocese of Las Cruces Overview
  • About
      • Our Bishop
      • History: 1982-2019
      • Diocese of Las Cruces Overview
  • Offices
    • Administration
      • Pastoral Center Staff Directory
      • Buildings & Properties
      • Finance
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Insurance
      • Marriage Tribunal
    • Departments
      • Diaconate
      • Safe Environment
      • Prison Ministry
      • Vocations
    • Bishop's Office
      • Bishop's Office
    • Development
      • Foundation
      • Aid to Ukraine Donation Site
      • United in Ministry
  • Evangelization & Formation
    • Office of Catholic Schools
      • Our Catholic Schools
      • Scholarships Available
    • Evangelization and Formation
      • Catechesis
      • Liturgy & RCIA
      • Parish Ministry Leader Directory
      • San Juan Diego Institute
    • Outreach & Ministry
      • Apostolado Hispano
      • Life, Justice and Peace Education and Advocacy
    • Family Life
      • Marriage and Family Life
      • Youth and Young Adult Ministry
  • Resources
      • Secured Employee Document Portal
      • Employment - Job Opportunities
      • Easter Sunday 2022
      • Chrism Mass 2022
    • Diocesan Magazine
      • Agua Viva Magazine
      • Diocesan History Series - In Pictures
      • Submit an Event
      • MEDIA RELEASE PALM SUNDAY
    • Resources
      • Online Faith Formation Classes
      • Consecration Russia Ukraine March 2022
      • Solemnity of the Annunciation
      • Synod Resources
      • Catholic Links
    • News & Events
      • Events
      • St Genevieve Lenten Fish Fry
      • Priests Assembly 2022
      • 40 days for life
      • Shroud Visual Gospel
      • Ukraine 2022
      • Rosary for Ukraine
      • Girls Talks San Albino
      • Holy Cross Retreat Center Events
      • Bishop's Knight
      • Theology on Tap
      • News
    • COVID Resources
      • Prayers During A Pandemic
      • Coronavirus Information
  • Parishes
      • Parishes
      • Our Lady of the Light La Luz
      • Detailed Vicariate Map
      • San Luis Rey Chamberino
      • San Pedro Mission Vado
      • San Miguel Arcángel San Miguel
      • Parish Finder
      • Diocesan Directory
  • Contact Us
© 2016-2022 • Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces
1280 Med Park Drive • Las Cruces, NM 88005-3239 

575-523-7577 • 575-524-3874 fax
Login
powered by eCatholic®