“There is no celebration of the Eucharist on this day.”
Instructions for the Liturgy of Holy Saturday, The Book of Common Prayer
This is the one day of the church year in which we are forbidden to share Holy Communion with Jesus. It takes us to Jesus’ time in the tomb, when the world lost his voice of truth, his healing touch, his eyes of love. For long, dark hours, the world had no sign of the Savior who “came not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And this leaves us a challenging question:
Would it make any difference if Church of the Good Shepherd suddenly disappeared?
Would the world around us weep and say, “They have taken the Lord’s body, and we don’t know where to find him”? Would it shrug and say, “You mean there was a church there?” Would it smile and say, “Good riddance! Let’s build something useful” ?
How we answer that question might tell us what we need to confess.
And in confessing together, we might well discover hope that our “transgressions and wickedness,” our “things done and left undone,” are like the big stone over Jesus’ tomb…
big, cold but not able to stand in the way of what’s about to happen in the morning…
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Instructions for the Liturgy of Holy Saturday, The Book of Common Prayer
This is the one day of the church year in which we are forbidden to share Holy Communion with Jesus. It takes us to Jesus’ time in the tomb, when the world lost his voice of truth, his healing touch, his eyes of love. For long, dark hours, the world had no sign of the Savior who “came not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And this leaves us a challenging question:
Would it make any difference if Church of the Good Shepherd suddenly disappeared?
Would the world around us weep and say, “They have taken the Lord’s body, and we don’t know where to find him”? Would it shrug and say, “You mean there was a church there?” Would it smile and say, “Good riddance! Let’s build something useful” ?
How we answer that question might tell us what we need to confess.
And in confessing together, we might well discover hope that our “transgressions and wickedness,” our “things done and left undone,” are like the big stone over Jesus’ tomb…
big, cold but not able to stand in the way of what’s about to happen in the morning…
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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1 comment:
Thank you for your work Tim. God bless you and your parish as we all prepare for the resurrection.
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