What are we waiting for?
Holy Saturday is a time of waiting, of living in the uncomfortable middle between the necessary death of Jesus and his Resurrection. It’s a day of grief and mourning, of patient waiting and hoping. It is a day of holy waiting, which requires a spirit of patience and prayerfulness. Yet, for most of us, we are so busy with Easter baking, last minute cleaning, preparing for guests, or prepping for Easter liturgies. So how can we hold onto the spirit of patience and prayerfulness in the midst of such busyness?
When we think about it, most of our lives are lived in Holy Saturdays, where sadness and expectant joys co-exist. The Resurrection we celebrate at the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday foreshadows our expectant joy of eternal life. In the meantime we strive to wait patiently, courageously and solemnly.
In order to share the joy of the living God, we need to go through an experience of dying to ourselves. We know that, if the seed is to give grain, if it is to become fruitful, it has to die. And, between the dying and the growing, there is some between time: a time of waiting, a time of letting God work.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian once said:
“Man no longer lives in the beginning–he has lost the beginning. Now he finds he is in the middle, knowing neither the end nor the beginning, and yet knowing that he is in the middle, coming from the beginning and going towards the end. He sees that his life is determined by these two facets, of which he knows only that he does not know them.”
And that sums up Holy Saturday – it’s all about patiently waiting for what is to come – which reminds me of something that I once read relating the three virtues of faith, hope and love.
– Faith is having patience with God in a world that is mysterious and sometimes upsetting and painful.
– Hope is having patience with oneself in time of desperation.
– And love is having patience with others.
Today we reflect on this great day of watching and waiting. We pray for the patience in this period of confusion and silence, between the sadness of the cross and the joy of Easter; from the bewilderment of Jesus’ disciples to the great faith of Mary. May we draw courage from Mary’s example to face the future with deep hope, patience, love and interior peace.
Let us ask for the strength to face those uncertainties in our lives: of waiting, of letting God do his work behind what we can immediately see, and to be patient with ourselves and with others. Let us take the necessary time today to grieve, ponder and enter into the mind and heart of Mary and the disciples on that first Holy Saturday – patiently waiting for the miracle that is still to come.
