Have a Blessed Triduum

The Triduum is upon us. These are the three days in which we walk with Christ through his darkest moments—those times that were so monstrous because of us. It’s also a time in which we see so clearly that He knows what it is to suffer in every way, not only in the more direct manner as upon the Cross, but in the preparation for that end.

The more common sufferings of life, like loneliness and betrayal, are those that we rarely compare to the pains that Christ endured, even though they too were among his burdens. When we experience them, it takes longer for us to look to Christ as someone who has suffered likewise. In that omission, we fail to see such things as crosses that we are called to bear. Yet, at this time of the year, the Church summons us to focus thereupon, and to be with Him in these very human sufferings.

When we experience these pangs, we forget how much more so He felt them while preparing for a torturous death: As he begged his dearest friends to stay awake with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prayed and grieved. Even, perhaps worst of all, when He had his last meal with them before the Passion, while knowing how they would betray him—how they too would be responsible for the wounds He would bear. Yet he drew them closer, instituting the Eucharist and the Priesthood.

There’s a sadness in contemplating that degree of isolation, such that the trial that is ahead is truly one’s own. But it is also true in some sense for all of us, when examined honestly. Our closest companions betray, die, fade away, or even simply branch into different areas of their lives. From beginning to end, there is no certainty nor sure companion except God. He who was most isolated now comforts us in the midst of our aloneness. While we can experience warmth in the proximate union of friends as we endure trials, the internal battles can only be fought and endured alone. Moreover, the choices that will manifest in our Eternity are ours to make—alone.

There is a key difference between us and Him, of course. Unlike Him, we have not only been betrayed, but we have been traitors. We have not only suffered, but been the cause of suffering in others. We have earned suffering, but He had not.

     I saw the Son of God go by
     Crowned with the crown of thorn.
     "Was it not finished, Lord?" I said,
     "And all the anguish borne?"

     He turned on me His awful eyes:
     "Hast thou not understood?
     Lo! Every soul is Calvary,
     And every sin a rood."

         —Rachel Annand Taylor

This Triduum, as you reflect on suffering, isolation, and betrayal as one who can empathize with those pains, remember to also do so with the honest view of oneself as someone who has caused it, for therein we see our unworthiness of His gift.

Have a blessed Triduum.