Friends, I am back for this Holy Saturday and Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; I am reprising a post from a few years ago. The lectionary reading is the proper one, in case you’re wondering!
I am beyond grateful for all God has done for me, and I assure you, I have been blessed beyond measure in a host of ways, including with the time I have had with you. I remain grateful for you all, especially our dear KenoshaMarge. Thank GOD she is doing better and is back home. What a blessing.
I pray that this Holy Saturday gives you a time of deep meditation about your faith, repenting for your sins, and preparing your hearts, minds, and souls for the most mind boggling event of all human history – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ who has redeemed us from our sins. It is just unfathomable that we have a God who loves us so, so much, all of us – no matter who you are or what you may have done – all of us – that He would send His Son to redeem all humanity for all time. Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him!
May you have a fantastic Easter, and may God continue to bless and keep you. Happy Easter to you all!
Thank God it’s the weekend. Honestly, I am so grateful for my faith. It is the only thing that is helping me get through these unbelievably tumultuous time in our country. Dear God, help us, help us, help us.
And He does. He has, He does, and He will. This weekend in particular highlights just how much God loves us and cares for us, that He sent His son for us, that He taught us, that He gave His life for us, and then He Rose again, taking away forever the sting of Death. That God loved us so much, as John 3:16 states, that He did this for us, sinners one and all, says everything about the heart of God, how much He loves His Creation, how good He is, and how blessed we are to have such a loving, compassionate, forgiving God. Praise Him…
This Saturday is Holy Saturday. This is like the time between breathing – that pause, that quiet, when we know our Savior Crucified is in the tomb. This is a day of meditation and reflection, of prayer, and anticipation for the time of our Risen Lord.
One way I find to take me to deeper places is music. I love Sacred music. No doubt, growing up the daughter of a church organist and choir director helped. Add to that time spent in a couple of convents, and I find it so powerful, so spiritual, and so moving. Like this piece I have shared previously, “Miserere,” a piece so special that the Vatican concealed the music for it. Until Mozart heard it and transcribed it. He was 14 at the time. It is so hauntingly beautiful, it seems perfect for Holy Satuday:
So hauntingly beautiful, isn’t it? I totally understand why the Vatican withheld the music to this piece for centuries. It is something special…
Another piece I have been playing a lot recently is by the Catholic Music Initiative, a group of young men and women who are singers, composers, and musicians. They are remarkable. And this tune is special:
Isn’t that just so lovely? I find it calming and peaceful. And I love that these young people are so devoted to their faith and use their gifts to glorify God.
Then there is Easter. Without Easter, there is no Christianity. This is the single most significant event in human history that changed the course of the world. The resurrection of Jesus the Christ changed everything. From John 20: 1 – 29:
The Resurrection
20 Early on Sunday morning,[a] while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 That Sunday evening[b] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[c] was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
Oh, Thomas – after all that time, you doubted the word of Jesus? How Jesus wasn’t like, “Dude, SERIOUSLY?!” is beyond me. But oh, how many of us would have done, and DO, the same thing? Yeah, Jesus is, thankfully, more patient than we are. Whew, what a blessing that is.
And the big message there is, of course, that those who have faith without seeing all that Thomas saw and experienced have chosen the better part. That is, the choice to believe, to be faithful – full of faith – is definitely the better part.
All of this leads to this proclamation and response by Christians around the world on Sunday: Hallelujah! The Lord Is Risen! The Lord Is Risen, indeed! Hallelujah!!
Like giving up things we like or enjoy for Lent, the word, “Hallelujah,” is also something that we try not to say during Lent. But now, now we can rejoice from the top of our lungs, HALLELUJAH! The Lord is RISEN!!!!!!
What better way to shout that from the rooftops than with the “Hallelujah Chorus”:
That is certainly inspiring of awe and joy, is it not?
And then there is this hymn, one of my all-time favorite Easter hymns as we celebrate that Jesus is risen, our Christ and our Lord:
And then this one on the Risen Lord, one of my all-time favorites:
I love this, the hymn itself, which is just glorious, and the earth-shattering event it heralds.
Sunday is a big day for us, the BIGGEST day for us. It’s Easter! Hallelujah! Let’s celebrate our Risen Lord and the tremendous gift God has given us, His very Son crucified for our sins, and risen to give us Life eternal.
May we praise His name, and treasure the priceless gift God has given us. Alleluia!
This is the Weekend Open Thread. Feel free to discuss whatever you wish!
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