Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Attending Jesus - Saturday Saturday, March 26, 2005 Exodus 15:1 I will sing unto the Lord For he has triumphed gloriously, The horse and rider thrown into the sea! Psalm 118:22-23 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Romans 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. I wonder what the King is doing tonight. What merriment is the King pursuing tonight? The scripture texts for today are all about victory. But on this Holy Saturday the Roman Catholic Church will not celebrate the Eucharist. This is the only day of the year when the church doors are closed, and the altar is empty. This is the day of Jesus' absence, when we grieve our loss and Jesus does his work in the world of the spirit, no longer with us. Actually, except that we have read the end of the book, we don't know where Jesus is today. The disciples were bereft. They were alone. They despaired, they grieved, they were lost sheep without a shepherd. Jesus, living authentically outside time, told them clearly what would happen. This temple will be destroyed, and in three days I will build it up again, he said, referring in the first person to the new Person of the Church. The tabernacle housed sacred relics, but now (or in one more day...) we will attend a living Christ-messiah-savior-man-god we can know and be loved by, who is not contained within any walls. Living but not present on Saturday with his loved ones, Jesus knows all this. He watches them and loves them. He can't wait for tomorrow. God has parted the seas of death and he has walked right through, while Satan drowns behind him. Death's old dominion no longer holds, conquered by Jesus' spartan holiness lived and given on the cross. Satan and his devils, blue with rage and green with envy, hold up their hands in a state of shock, with gestures tantamount to surrender. Peter and John and Mary and their friends see none of this. We see only a shade. Jesus sees all of it clearly, even today, when the doors of his church seem closed. This is the day that you have made, Jesus. With each moment passing, I will rejoice, and be Glad in it. "; Add      Edit    Delete