HOLY SATURDAY AND EASTER SUNDAY
Having completed our Lenten observance and after the liturgies of Holy Thursday and Good Friday we are now getting ready to celebrate the Easter Vigil on the day of resurrection that is Easter Sunday. The Church and its people have only one thing to do today: to pray through the emptiness of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday is the day when we experience watching and waiting at the tomb as we await the celebration of the Resurrection which we celebrate in the Easter Vigil, easter Sunday and the season of Easter.Holy Saturday is about emptiness, the cross is empty and Jesus lies in the tomb everything around us is still. It’s not hard for us to share Mary’s sense of emptiness and bewilderment when she arrives at the tomb.
If we were to read the next few verses from John’s Gospel, we would read a story of overwhelming joy as Mary Magdalen meets the risen Jesus. When Jesus speaks her name, Mary recognises him and sadness and emptiness give way to joyful reunion. It’s a story of transformation how things can change when we meet the risen Jesus. The Psalm for Easter Sunday says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Above all days, Easter Sunday is a day of hope filled joy. At Easter and throughout the Easter season we celebrate the kind of hopeful joy each of us longs for, when every tear is wiped away, and there is no sorrow and no more suffering. When we ourselves rise to meet our risen Lord, in that bright morning we will hear him say, “Come away, beloved. The winter is past; the rain is gone, and the flowers return to the earth” (Song of Songs 2:10-12).
In the loving union of that encounter, all the brokenness of our lives will be redeemed. That will be the perfect joy we hope for. Let us take fresh hope, with Christ our Passover everything is possible! Jesus Christ lives! He has Risen as he said he would and his light lights up our world. During the Easter Vigil we light the Easter fire and from that fire we have light the Paschal Candle. Our Gospel story for the vigil tells us that we should not look for Jesus among the dead for he has risen and the light of Christ lights up the darkness of our lives and our world. The resurrection of Jesus is a proclamation that this outcast from Galilee is the beloved Son of God who cannot be held in the darkness of death because he was raised by God his father.
All of us believe that God’s work continues not least because we believe Jesus’ words: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Our celebration of the Easter Season begins with our celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday with the Vigil on Holy Saturday evening during which we welcome and baptize Adult converts to the faith Then on Easter morning we celebrate our Easter masses as we renew our baptismal promises and don’t forget that the feast of Easter continues until Pentecost. So full of gratitude for Christ’s passion, with joy in his resurrection and, strengthened by the Spirit, we continue our Christian journey of joyful hope this Easter time.
Fullerton T 