Approaching the Triduum

It is the countdown...tomorrow we enter into the holiest days of the holiest week of the liturgical year.  As with Advent, although perhaps a little less so, I tend to get caught up in preparations for the great feast at the end of the penitential period.  Easy to do when you have children.

And it is not as though I do all that much for Easter, either.  I am no Martha Stewart and have neither the funds, the foresight, nor the leisure to do as much as I would like.  I would love to remember to force bulbs early on to bloom indoors at Easter.  I would love to create lovely decorations and table settings, and be able to scrub the house from top to bottom (and get the carpets cleaned!!).  I would like to do all sorts of things with the kids to impress upon them the enormous joy of this feast.  Instead, I try to do what I must and not too much more for fear that I will spend the last days of Lent cranky and out of sorts.

I wish I had the energy and fervor of the early days of my conversion, when I could joyfully perform all sorts of penances and fast on bread and water from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday.  Of course, I had no children and could spend a lot of time in prayer and spiritual reading.  "For everything there is a season."  Now is my busy season, and one day, God willing, there will be a time for deep reflection and silence during the penitential seasons.

I will do what little I can to keep the Triduum holy.  That will mean fasting as I can.  If I post anything at all over the next few days, it may be an image or a quote, but I plan to spend little time here until after Easter.
There are plenty of opportunities for penance around here...

I pray that we may all, busy as we are, find a little place of inner silence during the coming days and nail our hearts to Christ's cross.  As we serve our children and look into their faces, let us see Jesus, and stand with our Blessed Mother to share her grief--and her hope.