Holy Saturday

And what did the disciples do on Holy Saturday? I asked my CCD class.

"Nothing," they answered, "it was the Sabbath, they couldn't do anything."

Right. They couldn't do anything but pray and mourn and wonder at what had happened. What was that day like? They were afraid. Afraid for their own lives. They were hiding. They were probably still shocked at the turn things had taken in just a few days. Did they weep? I believe they did. Did argue with each other over whose fault it was? Over what could have been done differently? Did they speak angrily of Judas and how he had betrayed him? Did Peter keep replaying in his mind the time when he denied Jesus, and wished he had done things differently? The probably did all these things.

What they couldn't do was work. They couldn't go out and chop wood or build something or anything that might have left them physically tired and able to sleep with out thinking about the horrible things that had happened.

And they didn't know Easter was coming.

Sure, Jesus had said that he would rise again. Sure, he had said, destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days. But he must have been speaking metaphorically. They had seen his bloody battered body. They knew where it was lying in a cold tomb, behind a rock, guarded by the Romans. Jesus was gone. They were just going to have to get used to that and figure out how to go on from here.

How lucky we are that when we meditate on the Lord's Passion, that we know that Easter is coming. Just a few more days. Only one day left, now that we are up to Saturday. One more day and the Alleluia can ring in our churches again. We can wait one more day, because we know what is coming.

The apostles didn't know that the next day would be Easter.

All they could do was sit and mourn and pray.