In the Meantime

Situated squarely between Good Friday’s anguish and Easter Sunday’s exuberant joy, Holy Saturday is a kind of in-between-time, a “meantime.” In a way, most of life is such a meantime between our earthly struggles and our eternal happiness. ~ Sr. Melannie Svodoba

This was part of the devotional reading today. I thought maybe I would quote someone else besides Joan Chittister today but she also had an amazing line in her writings about Holy Saturday: Holy Saturday faith is not about counting our blessings; it is about dealing with darkness and growing in hope. Without the Holy Saturdays of life, none of us may ever really grow up spiritually.

This is a day when no liturgical action happens before sundown. The Catholic Church would have at least one mass on a regular Saturday but not today. Today we wait outside the tomb, wondering what on earth has happened. Today we stand in the uncertainty of life, wondering if God has abandoned us too. We ponder who Jesus really was and if what we witnessed was real or not. The community that once held us is now scattered and scared. Where is my faith at this day?

Living into the absence of that emptiness and grief holds valuable lessons for those willing to go into the darkness. What did Jesus mean to me? How did he touch my life? What am I really grieving this day? How will my life change without his presence? Do I hold any hope now? We may find ourselves in a tomb of our own this day as we consider these questions. The journey may lead to our own resurrection. We may discover hope has new meaning to us. Joy may become more of a gem. Jesus may be revealed in new ways. We may arise from the darkness of the tomb and see Light with new eyes.

Do you ever think about that first Holy Saturday and how some of the key players spent their day?

Mary, the mother of Jesus, bereft of her only Son

Peter pondering his betrayal

Pilate and Claudia sitting at breakfast table with the elephant in the room as Claudia wonders why Pilate did not listen to her pleading to have nothing to do with Jesus

The high priest’s slave, gingerly fingering what is left of his right ear

Mary Magdalene, and the other women, who witnessed the crucifixion

John, the disciple who Jesus loved, who has taken Mary in, hovering outside her bedroom, listening to his new "mother" weeping inconsolably

The High priest who is still indignant at Christ’s blasphemies but now puzzled by the events surrounding the crucifixion

Barabbas enjoying his new found freedom

The soldier who pierced the side of Jesus

The person in charge of fixing the curtain in the Temple

Simon of Cyrene aching from carrying the cross

The bystanders on Calvary who heard the last words of Christ, felt the earthquake, and saw the darkness

Those who were raised from the dead

Those who encountered those who were raised from the dead

The centurion who proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Joseph of Arimathea who laid Jesus in his own tomb

Nicodemus whose house still smelled of myrrh and aloes from the burial mixture

There are many reactions to this day. What are you feeling as you contemplate what happened on Good Friday? Be in this meaningful meantime. Stay with the emotions; learn their valuable lesson.

Peace,

Suzanne