The Wait in Holy Saturday

Today is Holy Saturday and it’s kind of an odd day. Yesterday was Good Friday---they day that Jesus was crucified. Tomorrow is Easter—the day of our Lord’s resurrection. On Holy Saturday we-----we wait. Jesus is in the tomb and it’s a day of mourning. I think the reason this seems so foreign to me is because in my family when someone dies we come together and to put it simple---we celebrate. We celebrate that persons’ life and his passing. Obviously, we mourn too. But because of Jesus’ very own time in the tomb we have faith that our loved one is in Heaven.

Holy Saturday is an odd day because we know what comes next. We know that after the horror of Good Friday we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on the next day. In many ways, Holy Saturday is like our life here on Earth. We know and understand that we may have a life of sadness and suffering but we know what tomorrow brings. We have hope and faith that after our pilgrimage on Earth we will be in the presence of God in Heaven.

I think today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Roman’s really put’s it nicely. He says that through our baptism we are changed and just as Jesus died and resurrected we too will have new life. He continues and says that by our own dying to ourselves in baptism we will be united with Christ. Because sin no longer has power over a dead body sin will no longer have power over us. So we have to think of ourselves being dead to sin and living for God.

Wouldn’t it be nice if it only took one Holy Saturday for us to die like this and to be changed? Wouldn’t it be nice if in one day---we could be free from sin?? It’s not quite that easy. Conquering sin is a long challenge. For some of us it will be a life long challenge but it’s a challenge we cannot give up on. Fortunately for us, God gives us grace in the sacraments to continue this spiritual warfare. Through reconciliation and the Eucharist, we can gain the grace to go one, day by day, dying and rising—every day.

Holy Saturday is different. We don’t know if we should mourn Jesus’ death or celebrate his impending resurrection. Our life hear on Earth is similar---we sit in eager anticipation (although we all want to put it off as long as we can) of our own resurrection in God’s presence.