"The heart of our life as Christians in community is the annual celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

So begins this very special article written by Dawn Ponnet of Holy Family Church, Director of Faith Formation, as we enter Triduum this week. Dawn shares how the "history passes into mystery" and lives on in people "gathered in faith and gifted with the spirit of holiness."

We begin Dawn's article here, and it continues on our holyfamily.org website. As Dawn writes:

Our celebration of Easter is "of three days," and so, from Latin, we call it the Triduum. We end our Lenten fast with the beginning of the Triduum. The three days are: sunset Holy Thursday to sunset Good Friday, sunset Good Friday to sunset Holy Saturday, sunset Holy Saturday to sunset Easter Sunday. The rituals of the three days are central to our faith. Let us take a look at the Triduum, which is celebrated in three parts, as a holy season of three days.

We assume that Holy Thursday is about the day Jesus instituted the Eucharist; Friday commemorates the day of his execution on the cross; and Saturday night and Sunday, we commemorate his emergence from the tomb. We assume, in other words, that the paschal Triduum is simply springtimes's parallel to winter's Christmas.

As we gather on these days, the people of God are 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 in the garden, walking with him along the Via Dolorosa and witnessing his miraculous return to life on Easter morning.

But, is "history" the central focus? Certainly, our creed anchors our belief in history. In Jesus' agony and crucifixion, he did suffer under Pontius Pilate. Jesus' words and actions are tied to a specific time and place. Precisely because these faith-anchoring events are historical, however, they cannot be repeated or reenacted.

This is why the church's long tradition insists that what happened once as history passes over into the mystery of our liturgical-sacramental celebration. What the paschal Triduum - the three days - actually celebrates is mystery, not history; remembrances, not imitations.

Holy Thursday does not take us back to the upper room; instead we watch as the words and actions of Jesus are taken to our time. We observe or participate in the mandatum, the mandate, that we wash one another's feet.

How does that play out in our life? Do you care for small children, a sick spouse, an elderly parent? Do you make time to really listen to a friend in distress? Do you make time to celebrate joys with family and friends alike? These are the real ways we live Eucharist!

Good Friday is more than remembering Via Dolorosa, Calvary and to the tomb - their purpose is not to retrace or relive. During the veneration, we, in community, carry the cross.

What are the crosses you carry? What are the pains? Where in your life do you feel the loneliness Jesus found in Gethsemane?

During the veneration, we all lift the cross, and in prayer, we thank Jesus for taking away burdens and offering our current bindings to him. We, like Simon the Cyrene, help to carry the cross of Jesus, and the cross of our neighbors, the cross our family's carry, the crosses that our church bears and the huge cross of our broken world. Carry another's cross!

On Saturday night at vigil and on Easter Sunday we hope to catch sight of him emerging from the tomb. The waters of baptism wash through the entire day, beginning with the baptisms of our elect at the vigil, the renewal of faith when we renew our baptisms at all the Sunday Eucharist celebrations, and the water. Water brought back to our fonts, filled to brim, our baptismal font filled with new blessed waters.

The oils in our ambry (cabinet where oils are stored) are fresh and new, ready for the confirmation of our youth and adults next month, and ready to baptize the many children born of late. More than 100 children will be receiving Jesus, in the Eucharist, for the first time next month. Thousands of people will be renewing their faith when they return to the table of our Lord at Eucharist.

We 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. What is the cause for celebration today? Naming those who are renewing their faith; those who are preparing for and celebrating sacraments; those ministering to others; those preparing for marriage; those who believe they are the Body of Christ; those preparing to meet Jesus. Renew your faith!

In the Bishops' document, Go and Make Disciples, it says, "Clearly, unless we continue to be evangelized ourselves, with renewed enthusiasm for our faith and our church, we cannot evangelize others. Priority must be given to continued and renewed formation in the faith as the basis of our deepening personal relationship with Jesus."

Join us. Wash the feet of your loved ones. Carry the cross of the distressed. Renew your faith and suppoprt others as they renew their faith. Be the Body of Christ! Watch, reflect, renew!