Let us rest

Silence and stillness are the graces of this day. After meditating on the torments of Christ yesterday, the Church rests quietly while Christ rests in the tomb. We have all heard, and let out, the cries of those who grieve. We may imagine the tears, the heartbreak, anger, confusion and sobbing of the disciples as they took Jesus’ body from the cross, and laid him in the tomb. Once He was entombed, they made their way home, and there we might again imagine in the quiet of their homes, as the emptiness Christ’s death left in their lives settles upon their hearts once more, their weeping renewed. This is what the Church commemorates on Good Friday

On Holy Saturday, however, there is no liturgy like Holy Thursday or Good Friday. The whole day is a day of silence and stillness. The Church sits with Her altars bear and Her tabernacles empty, and commemorates another reality. After the initial impact of grief has come, there is a fatigue which follows. There is a rest that is necessary for those who have wept; a day of silence in which the first inklings of the tranquility that time returns to the soul can be sensed.

Many parallels are drawn between the Last Supper or the Cross and the great deeds of the Hebrew Scriptures such as the Passover and Exodus, the Manna in the Desert, etc. One parallel that is drawn in Christian theology for today, is that which is found between the rest following the work of Creation and the rest following the work of Redemption. God revealed to the People of Israel that their works should be united to His works, and that their rest should be united to His rest. A day of rest should be kept holy as a remembrance of the Rest of the Lord which we are all called to share. Christians meditating on Good Friday in light of this commandment have seen the Passion as God’s sixth day of labor in the work of reconciling us to Himself. Just as we can unite the labor of our struggles and our grief to Christ crucified, so too, we are called to take time to rest with the Lord after grief. We are called to rest with our King who rests today in the tomb; to be silent and still beside Him. 

Today, let us ask the Lord to still and sooth the aches of our hearts, let us ask Him to quiet the anxieties which occupy our lives. In that silence and stillness, let us begin to listen anew for the Good News which is to be proclaimed tomorrow and forever.

Author: Thomas Croteau, SJ, Theology Department