The Triduum, Part 1

Oh, my goodness.

What a beautiful and striking service last night. So full of symbolism.

It didn't take long for me to recognize where they were going with it. As soon as the priest said "tonight we don't celebrate like other nights", I knew there would be allusions to the Passover Seder. Having led a seder myself for so many years, I could see what was coming when he said "put your books down, and listen to the story." :)

A child and an old man came to the microphone. The child asked the four questions (modified a bit to suit, of course), and an old man gave the answers. And a lector (which I'm on the list for and will get to do soon.. yay!) told the story of the outgoing from Egypt. The whole deal. Really good! :)

In addition to that, there was a renewal of the vows of the priest and deacon, and a call to renewal of service to the congregation. Knowing what I'll be volunteering to do, it felt good to stand and answer the questions, too. It seemed right.

Then a foot-washing service (more on that later), and after that the liturgy of the Eucharist. And we stood for the whole thing, and the whole thing was sung. The whole thing! :) Fr. Fitz sang all the usually spoken prayers, and every congregational response was sung. Non-stop singing for a half-hour. So cool..

After that, something called the transfer of the Eucharist. They move the unused elements to a small chapel that's kind of tucked away. I think the notion behind it is to represent Jesus' heading to a secluded place (Gethsemane) to pray, since after that was done, those words from Luke 22:39-43 were read, and everyone was silent. They just filed out without a word. It was very poignant - the silence. Catholics are so very good at silence. It's moving when they do it - not uncomfortable at all.

But both during the processional (the bread and wine were brought in immediately instead of halfway through the service), and during this transfer thing, it was led by a very discreet but lovely dancer who moved so majestically and beautifully, while carrying a basket of bread, or towels, or a bowl of burning incense. All this was accompanied by the choir singing verses by Thomas Aquinas from the 1200s, sung in Gregorian chant style. I felt connected to so many generations past who have celebrated these things for centuries upon centuries. Marvelous.

As the Eucharist was being processed around the church, the procession happened to go right in front of where I was kneeling. The fragrance from the hissing, crackling incense in the lead wafted over me, and reminded me of the presence of God in the twin pillars of cloud by day and fire by night that led the Israelites through the desert. Then, at the end of the procession, came the priest with the Eucharist. No one else was reacting to it, but as he passed by, I couldn't help but bow my head a little as the Presence passed by me. It really was a holy moment for me.

But back to the foot-washing thing. I've been part of those in other settings several times over the years. They have never connected with me, last night being no exception. It seems so anachronistic as to not be a viable metaphor anymore. Jesus clearly "threw a curveball", as the priest said last night, when he did this during the Passover meal. But does it connect with our culture today? At all?

I had a clue from the church website that this would be a part of the service, and I wound up thinking all day about what Jesus might have done if He wanted to make a similar stunning statement of servanthood in this culture. What would it be today?

Maybe.. if you were one of a bunch of invited guests at someone's house, and when they were busy entertaining others, you snuck off and cleaned the bathrooms for them? Hm. No.. kinda presumptuous. Weren't they clean enough for you?

Oh, how about this? Suppose you were holding a fundraiser for, say, Barack Obama, and you had a bunch of well-heeled potential donors over to your house to meet him when he was in town for a speech. You are going to have some hors d'ouvres catered in, when his campaign manager calls and says - don't prepare anything. Just have beverages, please.

Then, what if Barack himself comes in, greets everyone, chats a while and then heads back out to the car and comes in with a couple of grocery bags. What the..?

He says he has this great appetizer recipe of his mamma's that he wants to make for everyone. He did the shopping, then does all the cooking, talks about his political positions on issues while he serves the appetizer, and then does the dishes up afterwards, helps people on with their coats as they leave. :)

Now that would be a stunner, where the guest of honor does all the work, all the serving, all the cleanup. And it makes more sense to me than washing feet does today. Somehow I think we need a better metaphor for servanthood. I'll keep thinking on it. I like metaphor. :)

Anyway, lovely service last night. I can hardly wait to see what happens today at 3.