The Triduum, the shortest liturgical season, has always held a special place in my heart. This is especially true of Good Friday. Good Friday was always an emotionally charged day during which I focused a great deal on my sinfulness and weaknesses in gratitude for the mercy of God. And while the Triduum, and Good Friday specifically, still hold a place of prominence in my heart, the focus has shifted in the past several years.

See for Yourself - After a second rehearsal session of Handel's "Messiah" with chamber orchestra plus choir and soloists, I came away with two resolute thoughts.

For many Christian refugees from Iraq and Syria now living in Jordan and Lebanon, this year's Easter will be celebrated in the heart — but not necessarily on the table. Sr. Nesreen Dababneh, a Jordanian nun who works at a Caritas clinic for refugees, described their faith as "touchable" because it is deeply felt, an example of incarnation.

"How long will you stay safe inside your borders, not daring to cross over? Or do you cross and recross the same border, like a tight rope walker relieved to reach the platform?"

Notes from the Field - It was through a series of coincidences that I ended up at Cristo Rey Boston High School. Since I attended a Jesuit university, I decided to take these coincidences as signs, and, feeling moved by the Holy Spirit, I detached myself from the expectations others had for me.

The feast of the Annunciation coincides with Good Friday this year, inviting us to think about the two feasts together. The liturgy has a marvelous way of collapsing time, making events that are separate in historical time coexist for the participants.

"On the other side . . . ." Please click the image above for the full poem.

GSR Today - The message of Easter is bold. The resurrected Christ is an in-your-face affront to death and destruction, and when you adapt that story to a new medium, I think you have to be equally bold in your adaptation.

It was never meant to be amusing to say that Catholic social teaching is the best kept secret of our church. Now we are witnessing the deadly absence of these truths untold in audiences jeering as they attend debates, in verbal attacks of rivals and members of different nationalities and faiths, in rallies violently disrupted, and in actions in flagrant disregard of the U.S. Constitution.

Franciscan Sr. Donna Stevens practices psychotherapy at the Rainbow Treatment Center, which serves the White Mountain Apache tribe in Whiteriver, Arizona, where unemployment, illiteracy and suicide rates are very high.