Today's Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10 - Holy Saturday (at the Easter Vigil)

My dearest brothers and sisters, Jesus is dead. But death is never the end; we know through the accounts this evening of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary that Christ is, indeed, risen.

Two emotions, desolation and euphoric joy, are pitted against each other on this most Holy Day of days. This morning we are in mourning: we were there when Jesus celebrated His last supper with His disciples, demonstrating service to one another; we were there at His crucifixion, listening to the cries of a man in agony and desperation amidst His steadfast faith in God. And now He’s gone. Down, down, down into the depths, the apparently absolute separation from the love of the Father. Jesus, the only person to walk this earth with such a close relationship to His Father, is now following the path of every other human soul. Fallen so far that He goes to the furthest extent of Hell.

In taking on the sin of humanity, Jesus has walked the road of the ultimate suffering, death – but not in vain. Today we recognize those times when we feel so far from God – whether because of the things we’ve done or a desert in our prayer life; all those times that it feels like we are grasping at blackness, that there is no hope. In all this Jesus desires us to understand that He has gone further and there’s no depth that He has not reached Himself. He is there and our faith is a gift to rely upon when our senses are deprived.

For Christ is not dead.

He is risen.

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Ponder:

In your vulnerability and darkest moments, are you able to open yourself up to the possibility of the resurrection?

Pray:

Jesus, we ask that you accompany with us in our darkest moments. Help us to wait in hope and trust that you will bring us into your glorious resurrection.

 

Copyright 2017 Jane Korvemaker

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