Meditations in Lent: Second, Shock and Grief ~ Holy Saturday '20
Readings: Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24; Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16; Matthew 27:57-66
When it was evening, there came a rich man from
Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his
own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to
the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were
there, sitting opposite the tomb. [Matthew 27:57-61]
When it was evening, there came a rich man from
Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his
own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to
the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were
there, sitting opposite the tomb. [Matthew 27:57-61]Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are just there, sitting opposite the tomb ~ in the silence, in the shock, in the grief that hasn't yet fully formed, the wide-eyed wonder of disbelief colliding with a reality that is still ungraspable. They are doing what must be done according to religious law and custom but they are hollow forms, empty of thought, consciously unsconscious, and dazed. They are waiting without comprehending why and what it is they are to do next.
We are learning in our own time to wait for the unknown, the unpredictable, and the unimaginable. Some will busy themselves and be willingly oblivious to all that is around us as the changes and chances of life reveal themselves. Some are fearful of anything that is different from their usual routines. On this day, although we know what is coming from the tomb tomorrow, we also wait. What better moment is there than this day to sit quietly and consider the mysteries of our faith?
For a time today, I sit with the Marys in their vigil...waiting...in the silence...knowing it all again for myself, yet I am filled with the hope that is always available in every moment and every circumstance, the Hope that will rise again tomorrow.
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