Dayenu – It Would Have Been Enough For Us

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Today is the beginning of the Triduum, the remembrance of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, His Paschal Mystery. It His Passover from death to life into His glorious resurrection. This event has cosmic significance as Christ also leads us in passing over from darkness into light, from sin into salvation, from our mortal lives into eternal life. It is the fulfillment of the great Passover of God’s people Israel who passed over from slavery into freedom, from bondage into liberty, from oppression to liberation. Just as the Passover is the greatest of Jewish feasts, so is the Resurrection the greatest among Christians.

The greatness of our God is that He keeps doing even more and greater things for His people. During the celebration of the Passover, the Jews sing the Dayenu hymn. It proclaims God’s boundless love and generosity in giving His people blessings way above and over their expectations.

As I embark on the Triduum, today I mull over the words of this hymn and see God’s unending graces, blessing and surprises in my own life:

If He had brought us out from Egypt,
And had not carried out judgments against them
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had carried out judgments against them,
And not against their idols
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had destroyed their idols,
And had not smitten their first-born
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had smitten their first-born,
And had not given us their wealth
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us their wealth,
And had not split the sea for us
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had split the sea for us,
And had not taken us through it on dry land
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,
And had not drowned our oppressors in it
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had drowned our oppressors in it,
And had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years,
And had not fed us the manna
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had fed us the manna,
And had not given us the Shabbat
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Shabbat,
And had not brought us before Mount Sinai
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai,
And had not given us the
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Torah,
And had not brought us into the land of Israel
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel,
And not built for us the Holy Temple
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
1 Corinthian 11:23-26

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