Denver Catholic

2 MARCH 24-APRIL 13, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE MAR. 25: Mass, Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10:30 a.m.) MAR. 27: Chrism Mass, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (11 a.m.) MAR. 29: Mass, Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (5:30 p.m.) MAR. 30: Mass, Friday of the Passion of the Lord, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (3 p.m.) MAR. 31: Mass, Easter Vigil, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (7:30 p.m.) APR. 1: Mass, Easter, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10:30 a.m.) Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January. Denver Catholic is printed by Prairie Mountain Publishing, LLC in Boulder. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $50 a year in Colorado; $57 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $57 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $63 air; Canada, $70 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. CIRCULATION: denvercatholic.org/circulation Editor AARON LAMBERT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila installed 22 new candidates for the perma- nent diaconate March 10. The men will be ordained permanent deacons in 2021. PHOTO PROVIDED @ArchbishopDen Mar 10 22 new candidates for the Permanent Deaconate installed today for #Arch- Den. A blessed day! Class of 2021. +sja The transformative power of the Triduum I n just over a week, we will be cel- ebrating the three holiest days of the liturgical year – the Sacred Triduum. As we prepare for these days, we should strive to receive the abundant graces God desires to give us so that our love is deepened and becomes more like his. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the Papal Household, recently delivered a homily to the members of the Roman Curia on St. Pa ul's appeal to the Christians of Rome to let their love be genu- ine, before he delivered a series of messages to them. "This is not one of many exhortations," the papal preacher notes, "but the matrix from which all the others derive. It contains the secret of charity." That secret is that our love for others and Christ must not be hypocritical but "true, authentic, and not feigned." Even though Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested, whipped, beaten, mocked and ultimately crucifi ed, he did not fail to love his persecutors genuinely. His fi rst words from the cross were a prayer asking the Father to forgive those who had crucifi ed him, which includes all sinners from the beginning of time until its end. Jesus also spoke words of comfort to Dismas, the thief who was cruci- fi ed next to him but who defended him from the taunts of the thief on Christ's other side. "Truly I tell you," he consoled Dismas, "today you will be with me in Paradise." It is not unusual today for Chris- tians to be similarly derided. Father Cantalamessa describes this as "the hostility, the rejection, and the often deep disdain with which not only Christians but all believers in God are regarded by broad sectors of society, in general the sectors that are the most infl uential and that determine normal mainstream thinking." When you are considered foolish for your faith, just as Jesus was by those who ridiculed him as he hung on the cross, let your love for them be genuine. Instead of getting lost in self-pity and bitterness, if we ask Jesus for a heart like his Sacred Heart, then we will be fi lled with what Father Can- talamessa calls "an attitude of deep compassion and spiritual sadness, of loving these people and suŠ ering for them, of taking responsibility for them before God — just as Jesus took responsibility for all of us before the Father — and of not ceasing to weep and pray for the world." On the night of the Last Supper, the day before he was to be crucifi ed, Jesus assured his disciples that he would not leave them orphaned. He told them: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advo- cate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you" (Jn. 14-16-17). Having a heart that is ready to selfl essly love others is impossible without God's grace. As you approach Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday this year, ask God the Father to fi ll you with the Holy Spirit and form your heart so that you can love genuinely. Do not become, in the words of Pope Francis, "parked Christians … Caged Christians who don't know how to fl y with the dream to this beautiful thing to which the Lord calls us." Rather, let us allow the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and move us to love others authentically. With the salvation Jesus won for us and the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to live the Resurrection with abiding joy and gratitude and build up the Kingdom of God on earth. The Sacred Triduum consists of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday and are the three holiest days of the liturgical year. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

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