April 11, 2020 - HOLY SATURDAY

Gospel Reading:  Gn 1:1—2:2; Gn 22:1-18; Ex 14:15—15:1; Is 54:5-14; Is 55:1-11; Rom 6:3-11; Matt 28:1-10

There is something sacred and stirring about the predawn hour. The night sky slowly changes from sapphire blue to glowing orange at the horizon and it’s as if the air holds its breath waiting for the sun to rise. A breeze kicks up and a new day is born. I remember sitting on the rocks of Narragansett on the Spiritual Exercises as a student, watching the sun come up over the ocean as the waves welcomed the new day and felt my spirit renewed. That same feeling returned one cold winter dawn eight years ago as I rocked my infant daughter after a sleepless night. Seeing the sunlight stream through her window and feeling her warm little body asleep, I felt restored.

I imagine that Mary and the women from today’s Gospel felt that same sacred stirring as they approached the tomb, “as the first day of the week was dawning,” and found the Angel of the Lord. It is in the birth of a new day that they encounter the Risen Jesus, who invites them into action. Those sacred moments capture what Holy Saturday is all about for me — a dawning that brings new life. Tonight at the Easter Vigil, we light the Paschal candle and the light grows as we tell the story of Salvation History. God continues to create in our world, renewing and restoring the promise of light and life in Christ.

What sacred stirrings do you feel dawning within you today?