Overview of Lent and Paschal Triduum on Cycle C

The Lenten journey of 40 days from Ash Wednesday to the sunset of Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), except for Sundays, is punctuated by six Lenten Sundays. It is our transformative and transcendental pilgrimage to the Cross to die to our old sinful being and to the empty tomb to rise into renewed life with the risen Christ. On this journey of penance, pride gives its way to humility, and we unload sins for absolution through the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can travel light. And this is how our Lenten conversion works with our contrite heart. 

The Gospel Readings of these Lenten Sundays give important themes to reflect to make sure that we are engaging in our Lenten commitments authentically so that our Lenten journey will bear meaningful fruits abundantly, leading us to the delight in the Lord (i.e. Isaiah 55:1-10, First Reading of Tuesday of the First Week of Lent; 58:1-9a, 9b-14, First Readings of Friday and Saturday after Ash Wednesday). If we compare our Lenten journey to a marathon, then, these six Lenten Sundays are like the aids stations on the marathon course. Therefore, the Gospel Reading themes from these six Lenten Sundays offer points of reference to ponder so that we can make sure not only to stay on course – not to be derailed from the course by devil’s temptations but to continue the journey authentically – just as these aids stations on the marathon course are to ensure runners will not drop out and finish. God wants all of us on our Lenten journey to say, as Paul said nearing his martyrdom: I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Since we have just passed the midpoint of our Lenten “road less traveled”, punctuated by the six Lenten Sundays, of which the 6^th one is Palm Sunday, also called, Passion Sunday, let’s view how the entire Lenten journey course goes.

Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18): Jesus gives the authentic way to engage in our Lenten commitment to prayer, fasting (abstinence), and almsgiving (cf. Isaiah 58:1-9a, 9b-14, First Readings of Friday and Saturday after Ash Wednesday).

First Sunday (Luke 4:1-13): Temptation: Learning from how Jesus fought the temptations from the devil, we arm ourselves to overcome temptations to stay on our Lenten journey course.

Second Sunday (Luke 9:28b-36): Transfiguration of the Lord, in which Jesus’ divinity is briefly revealed visibly in the glorious light that points to the resurrection of the Lord, so that we know that our Lenten journey will take us to the glory of Jesus’ resurrection, which we will be celebrating for 50 days from Resurrection Sunday until Pentecost Sunday. And this is what the delight in the risen Lord (Isaiah 58:14) refers to in the Lenten context.

Third Sunday (Luke 13:1-9): God’s mercy gives us a “grace period” through the parable of the barren fig tree.

Fourth Sunday (Domingo Laetaere) (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32): God’s mercy allows a sinner to have a fresh start with the clean slate through the parable of the prodigal son. And who is against this? This is also known as “Domingo Laetaere”(Laetare Sunday), because this is the Lenten Sunday to rejoice (laetare) , reflecting the rejoicing of the Lord over the conversion and return of sinners, reflected in the joy of the father of the prodigal son.

Fifth Sunday (John 8:1-11): God’s mercy forgives but our mistaken sense of righteousness condemns through the narrative of the woman condemned by the self-righteous leaders for adultery but forgiven by Jesu.

Palm Sunday (Luke 22:14 – 23:56): The Passion and death of Jesus: Following him from the Lord’s Supper at night before his death to the burial of his body. By going over the entire Holy Week, this is to remember what our sins have done to Jesus and why he has walked the Via Dolorosa. This helps us to experience the effect and the wights of our own sinfulness to understand why we have come through the 40-day long Lenten “road less traveled”.

The Holy Week, which concludes with Paschal Triduum, begins on Palm Sunday. It commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, where the crowd welcomed him so enthusiastically, waving palms and shouting their praise to him as the Son of David in the name of the Lord the Most High and asking him to grant them salvation, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). But, as the Gospel Reading for this last Sunday of Lent (Luke 22:14 - 23:56, Cycle C) reminds us, the sentiment of people in Jerusalem toward Jesus rather quickly turns into intensely hostile hatred, shouting to crucify him.  Something important to ponder upon and reflect, examining our own hearts and letting God probe our hearts (i.e. Psalm 139:23-24; Jeremiah 17:10) in connection to the Examen (the examination of conscience ) from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola (# 24-31, 32-42, 43), which focuses on the movement of the Holy Spirit leading through a spiritual pilgrimage to Christ. By probing and examining our hearts, as well as, conscience, we recognize our sinfulness honestly and objectively, so that we can repent and seek reconciliation and transformation.

Lent ends at the sunset on Holy Thursday, and it is when Paschal Triduum begins to go through the passion, death, and burial of the Lord, which is reflected in the Gospel Reading of Good Friday (John 18:1-19:42). During Paschal Triduum, we see the increasing darkness, reflected in Tenebrae mourning prayer with the gradual extinction of candles.

Following Holy Thursday evening Mass, the blessed sacrament is removed from the tabernacle to the special altar of repose outside the sanctuary through the procession. Then the altar in the sanctuary is stripped, and the sanctuary will be darkened to reflect the darkest in Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in agony, followed by his arrest, trial, and via crucis – until the completion of Exultet at the beginning of Paschal Vigil Mass, following the Lucernarium.

Then, through the Scripture Readings leading to the Epistle Readings and the Gospel Reading, we reflect on the renewal of the Creation. And we also renew ourselves in the Paschal light, which is prefigured in the light of the Transfiguration in the Gospel Reading of the Second Sunday of Lent. And, then, we are in the delight in the risen Lord (i.e. Isaiah 58:14).