Break Open the Word

The Readings for Maundy Thursday Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 116:1, 10-17 I Corinthians 11:23-26 Saint John 13:1-17, 31b-35        BACKGROUND The Triduum, or the Great Three Days constitute a Liturgy that is celebrated over the period of three days; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Day.  With the reforms of the liturgy in the 50s and 60s, the Triduum, as a liturgical period distinct from Holy Week, has become more and more a given.  Each liturgy has its distinct acts.  Maundy Thursday concentrates on the Mandatum Novum  (“I give you a new commandment , that you love one another), the Washing of Feet, and a solemn celebration of the Holy Eucharist.  The day commemorates Christ’s institution of the Eucharist.  The color for the day may be white or scarlet.  The last act of the evening is the Stripping of the Altar and the setting aside of the Reserve Sacrament on an Altar of Repose.  Good Friday is noted for the simplicity of its liturgy, during which the Passion According to Saint

The Readings for The Sunday of the Passion At the Liturgy of the Palms Saint Luke 19:28-40 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 At the Liturgy of the Word Isaiah 50:4-9 Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Saint Luke 22:14 – 23:56 BACKGROUND Before the revisions to the Roman Liturgy that began with Vatican II in the late 1960s (which reforms were soon taken up by Anglicans and Lutherans as well) the Sunday of the Passion was observed as the Last Sunday in Lent, and was then followed on the following Sunday with Palm Sunday.   With the reform of the lectionary, and the introduction of the three-year cycle of readings, also came reform of the calendar as well.   Lent, as a penitential season, was devoted to catechetics (preparations for Baptism) and the emphasis on the Passion of Jesus was removed to the services of Holy Week and the Triduum (The Three Days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and The Vigil of Easter).   Thus, Palm Sunday and its procession with Palms was combined with the Sunday of th

The Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 Saint John 12:1-8 BACKGROUND This Sunday, on the cusp of the devotions that accompany Holy Week, anticipates in what will come with the Triduum (The Great Three Days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter).  Each of the readings awaits what will come and what will be remembered.  Isaiah 43:16-21   Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I f