Every year we gather for an entire weekend, from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, to read together our ancient sacred texts, pray, remember and ritually celebrate the suffering, death & resurrection of Jesus. Why is this important?
I offer this little story from Elie Wiesel in answer to this question:
The great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient.
Christianity is a story. As Michael Himes rightly points out it is a story about a particular person and set of events in a particular place and time in history. “Christianity is not a series of conclusions that any one of us could have reached by simply sitting down and thinking about them very seriously and carefully for a long time. Christianity is a report that requires that someone bring us the ‘good news.’ We need to hear it from someone else.”
During our sacred Triduum we tell the story that in its simplest form says “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” This retelling is a deep part of our calling as believers – so as to both share with others and to remind ourselves of the source of our hope. We live this paschal mystery each day when we love with no expectation of return (Christ has died), we rise above all that threatens to bring us to despair to follow Jesus’ example of service (Christ is risen) and when we somehow, mystically know deep within ourselves that each of our stories are intrinsically and irrevocably linked to God’s story - our creator, our beginning and our end - and in that strange, indefinable “knowing” we all taste and touch eternity (Christ will come again). Don’t waste a minute in sharing with your children and those you love what you find meaningful and life-giving about the story of Jesus. This story is what our faith is all about…and it is sufficient.
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