By Fr. Benedict Kiely.

But first a note: Click here to register for Robert Royal's online presentation at the Catholic Information Center, 6 PM ET this evening, of his new book, The Martyrs of the Third Millennium: The Global Persecution of Christians in the Twenty-First Century, which was published yesterday.

Now for today's column...

The journey we began nearly six weeks ago is almost over, or, to paraphrase Churchill, it is just the beginning of the end. We are about to enter the Sacred Triduum, the unbroken liturgical celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the life, saving death, and Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord of history and of Creation, the King of the Universe, God made man.

As we pass through these days, we need to be ready to reaffirm our baptismal promises on Easter Day, something of truly profound significance. When we hear the solemn proclamation of the Passion read, three characters are intimately involved in the Passion who, each in their own way, reflect aspects of our own Christian lives, and from whom we might draw certain lessons for the future.

It is quite traditional, of course, to try to identify with characters in the Biblical accounts, and we could pick almost anyone in the Passion narrative, as there are so many and so varied figures involved. Even what we might call the "bit parts," or the extras, have a place in the story.

For our meditation for the Triduum, I propose Judas, St. Peter, and St. John. Judas, we know, is the figure of betrayal, St. Peter, the figure of denial, and St. John, the figure of fidelity.

If we are honest with ourselves, times of humility, betrayal, denial, and fidelity come and go in our own lives as Christians. Perhaps we draw back at the suggestion of identification with Judas, but what is serious sin if not a betrayal of the Lord?

What is taking public positions against the solemn teaching of the Church, our "disagreement" with difficult dogmas, if not betrayal? We know, sadly, that when the Church is actively persecuted, it is often members of the Church Herself who betray their brethren, usually out of fear, but also many times because of avarice or desire for advancement.

Judas is the figure of betrayal, but also the figure of conformity, the man of the culture, who wants to make Christ after his own image. He is the churchman who is happy to be welcomed and supported by the money and influence of the State; let us not imagine that a "patriotic Church" exists only in China - there are many who represent a Church of the Zeitgeist, vapidly echoing the latest cultural fashion, seeking to "accompany" sin and deviation, and failing to preach, with any sense of what's at stake, repentance and renewal.

Judas sadly, seems to embody another feature of the Church in these times, in a particular way - he lacks supernatural faith. Christ, or the Christ of his desires and imagination, has, in a sense, betrayed him, because Christ is not a political actor.

The Lord speaks of another world and of eternity. Much leadership in the Church seems focussed on the secular, to the complete negation of the transcendent. For episcopal appointments, things like commitment to the Green Agenda should very far down on the list - and perhaps a little more of the saving message of the Gospel might be in order.

St. Peter is the figure that, perhaps, we identify with more easily. A simple man, and, often portrayed in the Gospels as foolish, impulsive - indeed, sometimes quite thoughtless. If repentance is part of our lives, which it obviously should be, it is quite right that we can see ourselves in him.

Let us not, however, rush too quickly from his denial of the Lord to his repentance. There is a coal fire we have all sat around, warming our limbs and denying our companionship with Christ: That silence when the Faith is attacked, when the Church is abused, or even, once again, when we fail to live the fullness of the Faith through sin and weak...