We consider what a life would be like without Christ.
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: On Holy Saturday, there is no liturgy at all. The liturgy this evening is the vigil – the preparation for and entry into the celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection. This is a Blessed Sabbath, a day of quiet reflection and stillness. It is the day of Christ’s entombment as Holy Saturday is the day, which connects Good Friday, the commemoration of the Cross, with the day of His Resurrection. When night falls we begin the powerful liturgy of vigil of Easter which signifies in music , sight, sound and scent Christ’s passage from the dead to the living by the liturgy, which begins in darkness (sin, death) and is enlightened by the fire and the candle representing Lumen Christi — the Light of Christ — just as the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, the community of believers, is led from spiritual darkness to the light of His truth. Christ’s baptism, which our own baptism imitates, is represented during the liturgy by the blessing of the water of baptism by immersing (“burying”) the candle representing His Body into the font.
Today is traditionally a day of abstinence in addition to being a day of fasting, until the Vigil Mass, when the Lenten Fast ends. In some churches today, priests will bless Easter baskets containing the foods eaten tomorrow (in other places, the baskets will be blessed after the liturgy tomorrow). Baskets bearing Easter bread, Easter eggs, meats, butter, horseradish, and salt are brought to church, blessed, and taken home to await the great feast on Easter Sunday.
This night, communities from all over the world will gather in darkness, a darkness that represents all that we have been reflecting upon today. And there, in that darkness, a fire is lit. as we recall God’s Salvific promises throughout the Old Testament remembering perhaps especially his sparing of the Hebrews whose doors were marked with the blood of the lamb; we are sprinkled with the blessed water by which we were cleansed from original sin through Christ’s sacrifice, and we repeat our baptismal vows, renouncing Satan and all his works. We rejoice at Christ’s bodily resurrection from the darkness of the tomb; and we pray for our passage from death into eternal life, from sin into grace, from the weariness and infirmity of old age to the freshness and vigor of youth, from the anguish of the Cross to peace and unity with God, and from this sinful world unto the Father in heaven.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY: As we wake in the morning and ponder the day. We consider what a life would be like without Christ. We consider his body in the tomb today, and perhaps consider that if Christ was not victorious over the grave, our death seems more ominous. And yet there is a hope because we trust in his words despite the insecure feelings that one is left with after Good Friday. We wonder is there any word from the Lord as our hearts broken over these events seek healing. We long for some reply from the Lord who gave us life and meaning. We long for some word. It is that yearning that draws us that night to prepare our hearts to receive the Word of Salvation promise in the Great Vigil of Easter. Could it be that the tomb will be empty and remain empty forever as a sign that our lives will not really end, but only be transformed? Could that be the Word from the Lord? This is both a day of reflection and anticipation where peace and joy, are replaced by fear and sadness in our lives. For if we truly believe that death holds no true power over us, we can walk each day in the grace being offered us – to give our lives away in love.
PRAYER OF THE DAY :All-powerful and ever-living God, your only Son went down among the dead and rose again in glory. In your goodness raise up your faithful people, buried with him in baptism, to be one with him in the eternal life of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE “‘A city built upon a mountain cannot be hid’ The light, or lamp of Christ, is not now to be hidden under a bushel, nor to be concealed by any covering of the synagogue, but, hung on the wood of the Passion, it will give an everlasting light to those that dwell in the church. He also admonishes the apostles to shine with like splendor, that by the admiration of their deeds, praise may be given to God.” –St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew, 5:13 (A.D. 355).
Holy Week Discipline– Attend part or all of the Great Vigil of Easter and observe the Solemn Fast. Make Resurrection Cookies for your family. Go through both the Scriptural and culinary steps to make these something truly meaningful and delicious. www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B8E975F2E…/Resurrection_Cookies.pdf