The Suffering Servant, and those who continue to suffer (The Triduum)

This week we have entered into that particular time of our liturgical year that defines our Christian faith, and our relationship with God – the Paschal Triduum.

From the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s supper on Thursday evening to the vigil of the Resurrection is one liturgical movement, one extended moment of prayer, reconciliation and thanksgiving that gives life to the Church.

There is no dismissal or sending forth at the end of the Mass on Holy Thursday, and the vigil itself begins with the Exsultet. We are sent forth only after we have renewed our faith in the living God as Easter people.

At the heart of this lies the Passion of Jesus – of the One that loves us even to death on a cross.

We are all familiar with the story of Christ’s passion, and could all do a reasonable job of recounting the story, from the upper room, to Gethsemane, the home of the chief priest, the praetorium and calvary. But it is Isaiah’s account of the suffering servant that draws my attention this week.

In it, the prophet speaks of the astonishment of crowds and kings at how disfigured the servant of God is by his suffering. But it also speaks of how many people turned away from him, rejected and despised him for no reason other than their familiarity with God and the fact that other things attracted their attention more.

Throughout Lent we have had an opportunity to consider what these things are in our own lives. The things that draw our attention more than the God that we take for granted – whom we will turn back to when we are in need.

And through the detailed, visceral account of His passion, we are reminded that the suffering, the sorrows, the faults and sins he bears are ours.

On Easter Sunday we will proclaim that Christ is risen, sing the Alleluia for the first time in over six weeks and look forward to the life of the world to come that His resurrection promises for us all.

But the challenge that the suffering servant presents to my mind is to continue to remember how closely the risen Jesus identifies with all those who suffer and how my heart should be as moved by their plight, throughout the year, as it is by the crucified Christ.

I pray that, as my heart has been renewed in Christ through the season of Lent, it may also be oriented to those who continue to suffer, and from whom I have turned my face. Perhaps a little less Jesus remember me this Good Friday, and a little more, Jesus, help me to remember them.

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