What is Paschal?

The word comes from the Hebrew “pasch” which means passover or transfer. It recalls the transfer of the Israelites from Egypt into the Promised Land. It is a reminder of their transition or liberation from slavery to freedom.

The Christian tradition uses the term to mean the passover of Jesus from death to life. His Passion, Death and Resurrection is called The Paschal Mysteries. Another name is The Easter Mysteries.

The Lenten Season prepares us to celebrate these Paschal or Easter Mysteries. The focus of the celebration are the three days within Holy Week called The Easter Triduum. It begins on the evening Mass of Holy Thursday till the evening of Easter Sunday (Th-Fri evenings=1st day; Fri-Sat evenings=2nd day; Sat-Sun evenings=3rd day).

What is the essential purpose of celebrating the Paschal Mysteries? Answer: Authentic discipleship or following of Jesus demands personal transformation which is actually a passover or transfer from death to sin to the grace of new life in Christ. The following expressions are aspects of the same paschal process: slavery to freedom, decay to growth, weakness to strength, darkness to light.

To bring this about, Pope Francis, in his 2018 Lenten message, suggests Prayer which helps uncover our self-deceptions, Almsgiving which uncovers our greed and gluttony and Fasting which uncovers our desire to control.

Living out the paschal mysteries is not just a personal and communal program for the 40 days of Lent. It is a daily and lifetime struggle. It is possible only with the help of the Holy Spirit.