Joy and peace that only God can give

The focus of our attention in this month of April must be Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum and our greatest feast, Easter and the Octave of Easter. The reason is easily understandable—our eternal salvation was obtained, not by any merits of ours, but by the total gift of our Lord’s life to our Heavenly Father for us.
 
Briefly, let us look at each of these grace-filled moments which bring Lent to a close and immerse us so deeply and intimately in the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. The days of Holy Week give us an opportunity to follow Jesus as others, including His friend Judas, plot to betray Him and put Him to death. The shadow of the cross looms ever larger not only over Jesus, but over us, as well, if we have been faithful to our Lenten discipline. We know that the cross is our standard for faith and life because of Him, Who was crucified on it and transformed it from an instrument of despair and death to the tree of life.
 
The Paschal Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday form an entirely different liturgical season for the Church. We are familiar with what Jesus did on each of these days from instituting the sacraments of the holy Eucharist and holy orders, to enduring His brutal passion and death and His burial in the tomb, to His descent into hell as we pray and profess in the Creed to release the just. These three days should not be missed by any of us because in celebrating them as members of His Body, we come to a better understanding of His sacrifice for us, but also what His sacrifice demands of us.
 
With the dawn of Easter Sunday, the Sunday of all Sundays as the Church Fathers called Easter, we awake to the sure and certain knowledge that life has been forever transformed. God lives, and we live with Him despite all the evil that continues to happen, evil never has the last word. Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate, God Himself has the definitive say and He says it with the beautiful love of His cross. He loves us and is faithful to us. All He asks for is our unwavering faith. Beginning on Easter Sunday and for the next seven days, the Easter Octave, we relive His gift to the world.
 
May these beautiful last days fill you with a joy and peace that only God can give. Have a most Blessed and Happy Easter!