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April 3, 2021
I’ve always held an appreciation for the suffering of our Lord. Good Friday has always been for me a deeply serious day during which I find it quite easy to enter into the severe and dramatic details of our Lord’s Passion. All of this drama, however, left me confused, on Holy Saturday. I never knew what to do, or how to feel. The child-like spirit in me wants to enter into a place of all-out despair, but I seem to come up short of an “All is lost!” mindset with the foreknowledge of the great triumph that is to come on Sunday.
A few years ago, I came across an ancient, first-century homily that is found in the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday. Within the very first lines, I was offered a new insight of how to feel on this day:
"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth; a great silence, and stillness. A great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.”
Whoa! “The King sleeps… The underworld has trembled.” That is our God…our King! Our king is the king of the universe! Does that not fill you with great pride? Is your spirit not roused up within you? Your Lord- your Ruler- the one who suffered for you has made the underworld tremble! So where are we this Holy Saturday? How should we feel? Is this simply a necessary time of waiting to add more anticipation for Easter? The homily continues, providing an account of where we are and the spiritual realities that we recall on this day.
Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes into them holding his victorious weapon, his cross.
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. (Psalm 91)” Like a knight in shining armor, Jesus descends into the depths and rescues the faithful. He fulfills their faithfulness, validates their hope, and lays all of those in the bosom of Adam into eternal rest, in the bosom of the Father. Let us meditate on the raw emotion of this scene of redemption.
When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.
‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.
I imagine this scene with the same excitement as any action movie may rouse up in me in the first few moments after a triumphant battle. The smoke begins to clear. The dust begins to settle. And for the first time that day, I can see that healing sunlight that was previously hidden behind the smoke and chaos. And all is well. And I rise…. as though a new man. So let these words pierce your heart and rouse your very own spirit.
‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.
Perhaps this Holy Saturday you may be struggling to believe that you are worthy of Jesus’ redemption. Maybe you’ve recently begun to notice character flaws or impurities that were once aloof to. It can be very easy for us to choose to believe that “one day when I’m a better person I’ll believe a little more in my worth.” If any of that feels familiar to you, let me be an ambassador of Christ’s Love, and an ambassador of truth to you. You are worthy. You ought to celebrate this Easter, even if you didn’t think your lent was hard enough. Why are you worthy? For one reason alone: because He- your Lord- says so. If God is infinitely perfect in himself, and he claims you as his own, then that’s the final word on the issue. Accept his love and embrace his Passion. Allow yourself to imagine the beautiful face of Jesus, gazing upon YOU- his beloved brother and sister- as he suffers. Choose to accept his love as he says to you:
“See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.
`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.
‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.
‘The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.”
Be prepared. The time of newness is close at hand. The King is sleeping, but soon the whole world shall awake.
Howdy!
I’m Dan. I’m a corn-born Catholic from Lincoln, Nebraska. I’ve spent most of my life on a baseball field, where, after quite some time, I began to combine my love for sports and my identity as a Christian.
I absolutely love my Catholic faith; even more than I love kombucha and Buffalo Wild Wings! Catch me at the frisbee golf course, or Meadow Creek until this whole pandemic craze dies down.