Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 03-26-16, Holy Saturday-Easter Vigil-Holy Night of Easter

WE HAVE DIED WITH CHRIST

(A biblical refection on EASTER VIGIL, 26 March 2016)

One of the various readings at the Easter Vigil: Romans 6:3-11

ST. PAUL

The Scripture Text

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. The death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-11 RSV)

When Jesus died on the cross that Friday afternoon, He did not die alone. He took with Him our fallen nature, our old self that had so stubbornly resisted God’s love and plan. There on the cross with Him, this nature was put to death forever. Jesus took the punishment we deserved so that we could be made ready to receive the new life of Easter morning.

Because the sinless one suffered the fate of sinners, the original curse was broken. God’s children were restored to their heavenly Father and enabled to live by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! Jesus’ death and resurrection opened heaven to all who would believe in Him – a hope for life in Him after death, and a reality to begin tasting here and now.

Did the apostles fully understand all this when it happened? Undoubtedly not. Some were quick to believe in the resurrection, while others doubted. But they all needed further enlightenment to understand God’s intentions. This is why Jesus spent so much time with His friends after Easter. He wanted to help them understand His Father’s mind. Soon He would direct them to wait for the gift that His Father would send: the Holy Spirit. It was this Spirit who would lead them after Jesus was gone and empower them to live His new life.

How blessed we are to live now, after all these wonderful interventions of God have taken place! We have not only heard of what Jesus accomplished: We have it available to us through the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit longs for us to know Jesus and the Father personally. He longs to usher us more deeply into a life of “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1) and an abundance of grace. Heaven is opened to us, and we can understand divine mysteries through prayer and revelation.

Because we have been forgiven, we can forgive. We can love with the very same love God has poured out on us. Most importantly, dear Sisters and Brothers, we can worship and adore our Creator – all because Jesus has conquered death and risen to new life!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to accomplish all that was in Your heart for us. Jesus, I owe You everything. Holy Spirit, teach me how to walk in this newness of life. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Regnum Christi

Looking for Jesus in the Wrong Place

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

March 26, 2016 - Holy Saturday

Liturgical note: There is no liturgy for Holy Saturday. Christian tradition has the Church waiting at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on his suffering and death. Today’s meditation is taken from the Gospel reading for Easter Sunday at the Easter Vigil.

Luke 24:1-12

At daybreak on the first day of the week the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day." And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.

Introductory Prayer: Heavenly Father, I contemplate the tomb of your Son who has loved us to the end. In the silence of this Holy Saturday, I meditate and prepare myself for the Resurrection. I come to you in quiet, expectant prayer, patiently awaiting the new dawn of Easter, knowing that what seems like defeat is really the victory of life. Help me to grasp the magnitude of your death and resurrection.

Petition: Jesus, grant me the grace to understand in a deeper way the glory of your resurrection.

A Day with Mary: Much has happened in the last few days. The Sabbath dawns serenely, quietly. Today is a day to wait quietly with Mary, to meditate slowly with her, to go to a lonely place and contemplate the Lord’s death while holding her hand. Holy Saturday is a day to take it all in. It is a day of sorrow and of hope. We must not let Holy Saturday pass by as just another day, as just the day in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is a day of quiet contemplation with the Mother of God.

The Other Side of the Resurrection: From our vantage point, it’s easy to forget that for the apostles and the disciples of the Lord, all seemed over. Jesus was dead. There was something powerfully definitive about that “It is finished” Jesus had pronounced from the cross. They would no more hear his voice, feel the power of his preaching, or see the marvels of his works. For them there was no resurrection, only passion and death. The women were preparing everything to finish the task of anointing Jesus’ dead body. We must contemplate this day from the other side of the Resurrection.

Prayer Gives us the Answers to Life: Only in this silent contemplation will the apostles be able to see how it all fits together. Jesus had told them all that would happen to him, including his resurrection. Jesus had spoken plainly to them, yet their minds were not prepared to understand. It is only in the silence of this day, accompanied by Mary, that they could hope to understand what Jesus had told them. It is the same for us; we must remember Christ’s words with Mary because oftentimes our minds too are closed. Many times we think we know who Jesus is and what he is teaching us, but really it doesn’t enter our heart. We must listen carefully to what he tells us in the Gospels so as to comprehend the deeper meaning of his words. We must do this with Mary and allow her to help us.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, the silence of this day helps me to ponder in my heart all you have accomplished for me during the past few days. I know that the silence of Holy Saturday is not a silence of despair and hopelessness, but rather a silence of great expectation ready to burst forth in the overwhelming joy of Easter. I will go to the tomb with the holy women, not to anoint your dead body, but to rejoice with the angels as they proclaim, “He is not here. He has risen!”

Resolution: I will try to keep as much prayerful silence as I am able today in order to prepare well for the joy of Easter.

One Bread, One Body

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GOOD NEWS FROM THE GRAVE

"Through baptism into His death we were buried with Him." —Romans 6:4; see also Colossians 2:12

The only thing we know Jesus did while He was buried is "that He went to preach to the spirits in prison" (1 Pt 3:19). "The reason the gospel was preached even to the dead was that, although condemned in the flesh in the eyes of men, they might live in the spirit in the eyes of God" (1 Pt 4:6). At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus stated that what He had "come to do" was to "proclaim the good news" (Mk 1:38). Even after His death, when His body was in the tomb, in the Spirit Jesus proclaimed the good news even to the dead. If we are to live our Baptism and share fully in Jesus, including His burial, we must proclaim the good news and "stay with this task" (2 Tm 4:2) "in season and out of season" (2 Tm 4:2, RSV-CE).

What does the Lord want us to do on Holy Saturday? Should we shop, work, or watch TV? Let's evangelize the "living dead" (1 Jn 3:14) and witness to the good news of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).

Prayer: Father, compel me by love (2 Cor 5:14; 1 Cor 9:16) to lead as many people as possible to new life in Jesus (see 1 Cor 9:19).

Promise: (none)

Praise: (none)

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