The Sacred Triduum

At the appointed time Jesus and his apostles gathered to celebrate the Passover meal. This was a group of friends, a community grown close over the past three years together. Here Jesus gave himself to them in the form of bread and wine, foreshadowing the gift of himself he would bring to completion the next day for all of us.

But that community did not last. When trouble came, the apostles scattered. They could not stay awake with him in the garden. He was taken by the soldiers, alone. Jesus moved on to fulfill his call, sustained by the love between him and the Father and by his compassionate love for us.

It was only after the resurrection that the community could come together again. Their faith, their hope in the risen Jesus, their newfound trust and love, later sealed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, grew into a new community, the Church.

The history of the Sisters of St. Joseph also includes a 'resurrection' story. In 1651 a group of six women, under the guidance of a Jesuit priest, came together with the aim of giving their lives to God through service to 'the dear neighbour.' Over time this community spread through the towns and villages of southwest France. They came to be known as the Sisters of St. Joseph. But in 1789 the French revolution changed all that. These Sisters, like other religious and clergy, were persecuted by the French government. The Sisters disbanded and most returned to their homes, although some died at the guillotine. On July 28,1794, Robespierre, one of the leaders of the revolution, was himself executed and Mother St. John Fontbonne, condemned to die the following day, was spared. The Sisters' story seemed to be at an end.

But in 1808 a number of young women, Sisters who had managed to survive the revolution, gathered under Mother St. John Fontbonne's direction. With the help of the bishop, they resumed their religious life and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph lived once more.

Each of us lives our own Paschal Mystery. Each of us follows the call of baptism, to live as Jesus did and to rise with him to everlasting life.

"Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Through baptism into death we were buried with Him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life." - Romans 6:3,4

By Mary Buckley CSJ