The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday rarely gets much attention. It is a day seldom observed.
It hardly seems like a liturgical day at all.
Holy Saturday is the “in between time…” quite literally the “time in between.”
The “tragedy of the crucifixion” is past -but “the glories of the resurrection” are still not yet here.
And yet we cannot really say that the tragedy of the crucifixion is past, because it is still very much in the forefront of the mind. It is more than fresh.
It is like a picture in the minds’ eye that will not go away. It is a trauma – still present and hard to erase. We are re-traumatized again and again by its events.
It holds us. And we are held.
We are neither “here nor are we there.”
We are stuck in the middle. We are in a no-man’s land. It is a “detached time.”
“Surreal time” like in a dream episode…
Our senses have all been jolted. You go through the motions…because it…is the only thing you can do.
What “was” is no more and “what will be” is “not yet clear or known.”
It feels as if there is “nowhere to go” and “nothing to do.” Time does “its own thing.” It seemingly stops and comes to a halt…and only moves again at its own pace. All of a sudden – there is no pace for time. It travels at its own speed, if it travels at all.
There is a sense of lost-ness, of hope-less-ness, of a lack of direction.
There is nothing that can prepare you for the shock of losing a loved one. We are all different. We all react differently. We are never ready. The shock is real.
Our relationships are different. No two relationships are the same, and no two people respond exactly the same way. We are in unchartered territory here. We feel like we are alone.
For some people there is only shock and the inability to move or to make any concrete decisions. Our feet are encased in cement.
If we are honest, for most, Holy Saturday is very simply a non-day. It is the day before Easter. It is a day of nothing-ness. It is empty, hollow, a void…
It is simply the day before the gathering, the Easter basket hunt, the meal, the company, the sleep in, the whatever.
For most people it is a day without any religious significance.
For the early disciples – we know that this was a day of fear and hiding. They were dazed, lethargic, scared, listless and paralyzed. The unthinkable had occurred. And they were at a complete and total loss.
They were not prepared. But then, we never are. They were locked up and holed up in a tiny room together.
Holy Saturday comes to us in many ways but it always seems to involve “death; the death of Jesus, the death of a loved one, the death of a relationship, the death of hopes and dreams, the death of something.
In the church calendar – Holy Saturday is one day – once per year. Not so in life.
Those of you who have suffered the death of a loved one or any other kind of unnecessary losses … know that you do not move from Good Friday to Easter Sunday in just one day. It takes longer than that. It requires more time. It takes a lot of work.
Holy Saturday can last months, years, even a lifetime. Again, it is because we are individuals and have our own individual needs and requirements and our own timelines.
Holy Saturday calls us to the tomb. Where else is there to go?
There is “not much to say” on Holy Saturday. What can be said? There are no easy or satisfactory answers.
Holy Saturday is a day of silence and stillness, waiting and wondering, remembering and hoping. Perhaps that is what “faithfulness” looks like on Holy Saturday. Being faithful means to sit and wait. Waiting calls for patience.
That’s why pictures and memories become so very important. One can still smile even in the midst of excruciating pain.
Holy Saturday is a difficult day. We so much – want “joy to replace sorrow,” but at the same time – we know that such joy may be elusive, at least right now…
So, joy is withheld. As a matter of fact, when you are in the midst of Holy Saturday – you question and wonder if joy will ever come again.
Joy is a distance and a long trek away. It cannot be seen on nearest horizon …
Sometimes all you can do is wait, and pray and hope…and on the Holy Saturday’s of life, perhaps that is enough.
Perhaps.