7 minute read
Bishop F. Richard Spencer
The Paschal Triduum Like No Other
BY BISHOP NEAL J. BUCKON
(L-R) BISHOP NEAL BUCKON AND FATHER NORBERT KARAVA.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has made this celebration of the 2020 Paschal Triduum like no other. The infectious disease, death, school closures, stay-at-home orders, and government restrictions on travel and gatherings have put the majority of individuals and family units in isolation. Our much-loved military chapels have had to suspend worship, activities, and events. My episcopal visits with the sacrament of confirmation have been falling in sequence just like dominoes. Despite the conditions, we are an Easter people; and with amazing innovation our Catholic Church celebrated the Paschal Triduum with incredible zeal. We are a Resurrection people, and Alleluia is our song! Knowing this will keep our heads held high, maintain our morale, and let us be steadfast in our resiliency as we continue to contend with this potent new Coronavirus.
The Paschal Triduum begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and ends on Easter Sunday evening. On Holy Thursday, I celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Father Norbert Karava at the 32nd Street Chapel of Naval Base San Diego. There were just three of us in the chapel: Father Karava, myself, and a sailor who was using a cell phone to live stream the Mass to viewers by way of the chapel’s Facebook account.
It was during the first Mass of the Lord’s Supper that Jesus instituted the Most Holy Eucharist and the priesthood. Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples and thereby modeled for us an act of silent humble service. The unseen viewers heard the proclamation of the sacred scripture and witnessed the confection of the Eucharist. However, they must have been stunned to see that the traditional washing of the feet was omitted. At the conclusion of our Mass I told the invisible members of the chapel’s community of faith, that they heard the Word of God, benefited from a spiritual communion with the Lord, and watched priests bring the Paschal Mystery into the present moment by celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass. When the Paschal Mystery, that is to say the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, is the central mystery of our lives we will always emerge from our struggles, sufferings, and the sacrifice that comes with service, a better person and a better Catholic. We are a “Resurrection people” when the Paschal Mystery, celebrated in every Mass, is the central mystery of our lives.
On Good Friday, and for the remainder of the Triduum, I joined the priests at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Coronado Island, CA, where I have been in residence for the past seven years. I was to be at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, but their contract priest was sent home on 16 March and all chapel services were suspended. What a blessing to celebrate Easter at home for the first time! The church is located between the Naval Air Station where two aircraft carriers call home and the Amphibious Base where aspiring sailors train to become Navy Seals. Many parishioners are active-duty service members! Father Michael Murphy,
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(L-R) DEACON FEDERICO DRACHENBERG, FATHER MICHAEL MURPHY, BISHOP BUCKON AND MONSIGNOR DONAL SHEAHAN.
the pastor, live-streams the liturgies to the Catholic faithful on Coronado with the help of Monsignor Donal Sheehan (a retired priest), a deacon, an altar server, two lectors, a musician, and a cantor. The ministers in the sanctuary do all they can to celebrate every liturgy in a manner conducive for the full, active participation of hundreds of people in the act of worship in the comfort of their homes. The nave is empty except for the echo.
I was the principal celebrant and homilist for the celebration of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday. To adapt to the situation, we added: 1) a prayer for relief from the pandemic to the Solemn Intercessions; 2) the adoration of crucifixes and crosses located in the homes of the viewers; and 3) a prayer of spiritual communion at the conclusion of the Communion Rite.
Things were not looking too “good” on that first Good Friday. Yet Jesus, went forward trusting in His heavenly Father. During the crucifixion Jesus’ humanity was stretched to its breaking point, and as He was dying on the cross; He was saving the world. But the story does not end here. From Good Friday came forth the Resurrection! God raised Jesus from the dead, and herein lies an important message for every Christian. There are times in our life when we find ourselves in situations that are beyond our control. We may find ourselves in dangerous and life-threatening situations. The COVID-19 pandemic is such a time. This infectious disease is highly contagious; in many cases it is debilitating, and, for some, it is deadly. It is a cause for fear and anxiety. However, Jesus gave us the example par excellence: we are to place our trust in a God who loves us, a God who saves! The lesson of Good Friday is that God can bring “good” out of any situation in our life. We may not know what it is, but it is important for us to trust in God. Even when our humanity is being stretched to the
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BISHOP BUCKON VESTED TO HEAR CONFESSIONS ON HOLY SATURDAY.
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breaking point, we can even thank God for what He is going to do. We are a “Resurrection people” when we place our trust in God and believe that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ!
In the Paschal Triduum we find the juxtaposition between suffering and death, and glory. As we arrive at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, we are making the transition from the Passion of the Lord to the Glory of the Resurrection. The Easter Proclamation Exsultet exhorts us to be glad as the Earth is covered in glory and to rejoice as Mother Church is arrayed with the lighting of God’s glory. The Exsultet identifies the cause for the celebration and the source of the glory by stating that “This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.” The resurrection of Jesus unleashes sanctifying power that “dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, drives out hatred, and fosters concord.” However, the greatest implication for the faith-filled disciple is captured in the solemn blessing at the end of Mass, which says, “May He, who restores you to eternal life in the Resurrection of His Only Begotten, endow you with the prize of immortality.” We are an Easter people because we have been restored to eternal life, and our ultimate hope is the prize of immortality in the Kingdom of Heaven.
BISHOP BUCKON ON EASTER SUNDAY MORNING.
On Easter Sunday morning I dressed in choir cassock, as I had the night before, and took my place in the sanctuary. Monsignor Sheehan was the celebrant and the homilist. At the end of Mass, the Monsignor asked me to say a few words to the Catholic faithful of Coronado Island. In my remarks I asked them to remember two sentences, 1) “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (The refrain of the Responsorial Psalm); and 2) “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.” I suggested that during the Octave of Easter they say the former sentence when they get out of bed in the morning and their feet hit the ground; and they say the latter sentence when they look into the mirror and see themselves for the first time in the morning.
During this pandemic we will do well to remember who we are, to whom we belong, and the importance for us to keep our eyes on the prize! The Resurrection is the central mystery of our salvation; and Alleluia is a Hebrew word that is the shining word of praise, the transporting word that fills earth with the glory of God. We are an Easter people because we know God loves us, He has our interests at heart, and He will never abandon us. Alleluia. V
