In Between 

  Holy Saturday is an unusual time, a time of expectation.  We have mourned the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we must wait until Easter Sunday to celebrate His resurrection.  It is a good time to consider all we have come through in Lent and all we are to celebrate tomorrow.

I can’t help but think that Satan and his demons are perhaps joyful this day.  After all, they have successfully seen to the crucifixion of the Son of God.  They convinced those who should have known and who should have believed to reject Him and demand His death.  They have scattered even His closest friends, the apostles.  Do they think they have won?  Are they congratulating themselves for their victory?  Their supposed victory is to be short-lived.  Tomorrow He will arise; His Church will spread throughout the world.

   I think of the Blessed Mother.  She watched as her Son was brutally beaten, mocked, and nailed to the cross.  She stood at the foot of His cross as the lifeblood drained from His battered body.  Her heart must have been breaking, the anguish nearly too much to bear.  But she believed, trusted, and had faith.  In her heart she knew He would arise, but this day she mourned her loss.  Tomorrow He will arise; she will rejoice.

   The apostles are in turmoil, not knowing or understanding all that has taken place.  The Son of God has been arrested, nailed to the cross and is dead and in the tomb.  They are in hiding, fearing for their own life.  With Jesus gone the Jews will surely be coming for them next.  They are at a crossroads without knowing which way to turn.  Tomorrow He will arise; He will appear to them and send the Holy Spirit upon them.  They will preach the gospel throughout the world.

   We have struggled through Lent, perhaps being faithful to our Lenten promises, perhaps not.  We mourned His death on Good Friday, we are sorrowing today, on this day of in between.  We need not worry, He promised and He will keep His promise.  Tomorrow He will arise; our hearts will know the joy of His resurrection.

   A day of in between.  A day to review our lives in the light of all that has taken place over the last three days.  A day to recognize that our sins were the reason He died; to understand that He gave His life to offer us eternal life.  A time to prepare to welcome the risen Lord into our hearts and our lives.  A time to increase our faith and devotion to the Lord.

You have died.

You are in the tomb.

Tomorrow You will arise.

We await Your coming with joy. 

Amen