Our Salvation Appointment

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.

Matthew 26:17-19

It is the appointed time.

We are entering the Sacred Triduum, the High Holy Days of Christianity. Beginning tonight and extending into Sunday, the Church and the People of God celebrate the Passover. But this memorial ritual is performed in a new, more mystic manner, for God in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest and Lamb of God, brings to completion the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets--the salvation of humanity.

We hear the words of consecration, first from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians and then from the priest acting in persona Christi. We then travel what should be a very familiar route as we are immersed into His Passion and Death and recall the events which led to His Crucifixion. We spend a time of deafening silence as we grieve, faith, hope, and love all but abandoned. And then we hear the most incredible sentences of all, " He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." (Matthew 28:6).

Starting tonight, I will be in the choir loft for the next four liturgies. Even if I was not singing, I would still assist at these moments of ultimate sanctification. That is how important, nay, necessary this time is for my soul.

"Were you there when...?"

I can answer, "Yes."

How about you?