Holy Saturday
Intentions: That all people will turn away from sin, living instead with compassion and justice, and embracing God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 27:57-66
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
A Lenten Reflection
Life is full of surprises. Whether as small jolts or major earthquakes, surprises remind us that much of life is simply beyond our control. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Take God’s ways of being present to us. While God’s presence is total and constant, it has an element of unpredictability that can challenge our notions of who he is and how he acts. The question is: do these surprises tell us more about God or about us? As it turns out, sometimes things that surprise us are things that should come as no surprise at all.
A frequently overlooked element of being in God’s presence is to actually remember to be present ourselves. There are times when we focus so much on our own desire to see or do certain things that they can surround us and still we miss them. We were there, but we were not present. Such was not the case for the women at Jesus’ tomb. They tried neither to flee nor control the moment. By surrendering in openness and wonder to what was before them, they were able to be surprised out of their grief and self-absorption and back into awareness that God was with them. Somehow, their days with Jesus had nurtured in them an understanding of how to live in readiness, with the simple, unshakable confidence that God could and would always find them.
Thomas Merton wrote, “Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening to Him, being attentive to Him, requires a lot of courage and know-how.” The time of Lent is a time for improving our ability to do this. Our spiritual wholeness depends on our fidelity to our relationship with God, which depends on our willingness to mindfully be in his presence. This means setting aside our schedules and scripts and humbly giving ourselves to his time and space. It means teaching ourselves to be attentive, and it means allowing ourselves to be surprised.
Prayer
Eternal Father, so many times your Son surprised his followers by defying their expectations and showing them the power of your love. Like them, we often have trouble accepting your Good News. On this Holy Saturday, we pray that you will help our poor faith. Free us to accept the gift of your salvation, living our lives with joy and confidence, and especially with compassion and justice. This we ask of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.