Spring is in the Air…
I love this time of year. I love seeing new life take shape in our countryside and I love to see the blossom on the trees and the lambs in the field. This time of year brings so much hope after the dark cold days of winter. Being in the Northern Hemisphere means the link between spring and Easter is so much easier to see than in the Southern Hemisphere as they move into Autumn and Winter!
Like the season we are not quite there liturgically. We still have to travel some way with the bad weather and with the blooming of the spring flowers and we still have the Triduum to go through before we celebrate the hope that comes to us through the Resurrection of Christ.
The next three days (the Triduum) are challenging days as we walk with Jesus to the Cross and on to the Resurrection. As a child I never really engaged with the last three days of the life and death of Jesus. I went to church on Palm Sunday and then turned up to church on Easter Day I missed out on the liturgies of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. I missed out on the long wait of Holy Saturday. In missing out on these liturgies I think I missed out on the sheer joy of Easter Day and the hope that Easter offers us.
Like creation we have to go through the death of winter to experience the wonder of new life in Spring. We have to go through death in order experience the resurrection hope that is offered to us through the death of Jesus. So as we continue through our Lenten pilgrimage do come and join us for the Triduum, the last days in the life of Jesus and come and celebrate with us on Easter day the joy and hope in Christ (https://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/worship-here/holy-week-and-easter/).
Lord Jesus Christ,
by your cross you teach us
that death is the gateway to life.
Bless and comfort all those who mourn,
that they may hold fast your promise
of life eternal;
now and always.
Amen.