Triduum thoughts

Triduum = Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday - the last three days of the holiest week of the year.

Holy = sacred, set apart

This week...

... Well, this week has certainly been "set apart" but not at all in a sacred sense. Maybe it's the weather, the sick kids, or just that end of a long Lenten season that doesn't ever feel like it will end... But whatever it is, I have had the hardest time keeping to those Lenten promises that I made back in February. Life's "stuff" has kept me from my devotional, anger has been rearing its ugly head, and I've been tempted like never before to just open up Facebook and vent about it/scroll away. I'm not at all proud of myself.

I feel like I'm not alone in this though. Just chatting with the woman who does my hair today, we commiserated that this week has felt like the hardest in the whole of Lent. And after reading this from Whole Parenting Family, and this from Fountains of Home I'm encouraged that even some of the Catholic mommy bloggers I admire the most are having a rough-go of it. No one is getting off easy here.

It also occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, this could be a spiritual attack. I mean, wouldn't it just make sense that the devil would pull out all the stops to attack and distract and discourage Jesus's followers during this holy week? The devil doesn't have to distract those who don't care. And as Carolyn from Svellerella so eloquently put it, "especially during the holy days of the Easter Triduum, everyone the world over is saying the same prayers, contemplating the very same events in Jesus's life, all while offering our own prayer."

Something I cherish about the Catholic faith is knowing especially during the holy days of the Easter Triduum, everyone the world over is saying the same prayers, contemplating the very same events in Jesus's life, all while offering our own prayer --it's not that mindless babbling, that rote, uber-traditional boring nonsense that I've heard people think it is, but instead it is a universal brother and sisterhood: spoken in every language, and we all know, we all know exactly what is going on. The Mass, the greatest gift from Jesus's salvation; what He left for us here to do while we await His return, is truly the universal prayer.

A photo posted by Carolyn Svellinger (@carolyn_svellerella) on Mar 24, 2016 at 3:08pm PDT

Well, with God's help, I'm not going to let discouragement keep me from continuing to honor God with what I can offer - my life, my little sacrifices, my self. And I'm certainly not going to let discouragment separate me from God's love and the knowledge that I am secure in my relationship with Him.  Easter happened for such a time as this. I pray you won't either.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless us all as we seek to honor Him with all that we do. And may God be especially honoured when we give grace to ourselves and others when what was planned does not come to pass - when we are merciful as the Father is merciful. Amen?