“On Holy Saturday I do my best to live in that place, that wax-crayon place of trust and waiting. Of accepting what I cannot know. Of mourning what needs to be mourned. Of accepting what needs to be accepted. Of hoping for what seems impossible.”
~
Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha, said that the mission of each knight — which he believed himself to be — was to fight wrong, to accept injury, to come to the aid of others, to rise from defeat, indeed, to dream the impossible dream and to do all within his power to make the dream become a reality. That spirit is Holy Saturday.
Imagine our Lord walking the earth. He set about to fight wrong, He accepted injury, He came to the aid of all in need and, ultimately, suffered the ignominy of the cross. Dying the death of a criminal, His body was placed in a tomb, a stone was rolled over the entrance of the tomb to seal it shut, and everyone, except for a guard posted at the tomb, walked away. For them, the dream was over. It would have seemed impossible, indeed, to think that Jesus would rise from the dead. Their dream died with the Lord.
And the earth lied in wait.
That is where we are today. We lie in wait on this Holy Saturday. Sacraments are non-existent. There is no Mass celebrated this day, not even a funeral Mass. There are no baptisms, no confirmations, no confessions. There is nothing because we remember the time when Jesus, the font of sacraments, was dead and placed in a tomb. All was dark.
All we can do is accept reality. Our sins put Him to death. We mourn that death and our relationship with it. We ask God for pardon. We ponder the words of Jesus, “Destroy this temple and in three days it will be rebuilt.” Were those words about Him? Was He correct the many times He referenced resurrection? Is there something that awaits us after death? Will we be lost to the dark?
These questions are terrifying as well as depressing. They are questions that we all ask as we wait for the celebration of Easter. However, because we have the retrospect of history, we know that there is light after the dark, life after death, and victory for those who dare to dream the impossible dream.
Dare to fight the “unbeatable” foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go, to right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star. It is in the trying that God enters in and gives us the grace that we need to accomplish all that we attempt. As Jesus marched into hell for a heavenly cause, He will give us the strength to be victorious as well.
FAITH ACTION: Create a good amount of time to be silent today and spend that time reflecting upon all that God has already done for you as well as the promise that He extends to you for eternal life.
At St. Thomas More, the Blessing of Easter Baskets takes place at 2:00 p.m.
The Vigil Mass of Easter is at 8:00 p.m. All are welcome.