Generally, our actions are shaped by our beliefs. People who eat low-carb diets do so, probably not because they hate pasta, but because they believe it healthiest. If a man buys stock in a company, it probably is because he believes in their business plan. Our beliefs shape our behavior. This is true of Christians’ belief in the resurrection. We believe that Christ’s resurrection means our resurrection to a glorious eternal life is guaranteed. That inevitably shapes how we will act now.

However, it is not simply the facts of the resurrection that shape our behavior. It is the person of the resurrection. Jesus is not some wise, dead sage whose advice is contained in dusty books. Jesus lives! Therefore, through His Word, He is able to work on our minds and hearts, molding them to His perfect will. Here is a resurrection reality. Jesus fills us with His Spirit, not only so that we have faith, but also so that we produce the fruits of faith He seeks.

The Festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord is the high point of the Christian Church Year. We celebrate Christ’s victory over death that is ours by faith. The Paschal candle, as a symbolic reminder of the risen Christ, helps us to celebrate the fact that the darkness of sin and death has been overcome by the resurrection. The Paschal candle will burn throughout the Easter season, until Ascension.

The Triduum (TRID-oo-um, “three days”) refers to the time from worship on Maundy Thursday until the final worship of Easter Day. The “Three Holy Days” of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire church year. It is over these days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter – that we celebrate God’s redeeming love in the dying and rising of His Son, Jesus, and still see that love today. The Triduum is a single celebration. Once we have begun the Triduum on Maundy Thursday, we do not “leave” it until Easter Sunday. It is one continuous celebration of dying and rising, with Christ.