Newton Cowan, pastoral care
It is really hard to imagine what the disciples; Mary, the mother of Jesus; and many others were thinking. Can you imagine what it was like to witness the entry into the Temple Mount on Palm Sunday, the events of Holy Week and the Last Supper? The arrest, the “trial,” the beating, the Crucifixion, the Death of Christ. Can you imagine?
I would imagine they were thinking, “What now?” There had to be fear and grief and wondering what was to be. Could all their hopes and dreams be gone? They waited, many behind closed doors, reflecting on the life of Jesus and His teachings, and they remembered He had said He would rise again. Could it be that Christ will rise from the dead? Maybe that death is not the end, but the beginning of something new?
What are you thinking? Feeling? Wondering about? Holy Saturday is observed as the day in which Christ descended to the dead or as we say in the Apostles Creed, descended into hell. That Christ would be triumphant over death.
Perhaps you, like many, would rather just skip the death part and jump from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. If there were ever a time we needed to pause, to not just run to the empty tomb, it is this year.
You and me, we have been through a lot since last March. Today, I invite you to breathe, to pause, to rest, to reflect. Yes, reflect on the events of the past, but dream about what is ahead. There is hope!
prayer
I invite you today to pray along with me a part of the 131st Psalm. “I will not occupy myself with things that are too great and too marvelous for me, but I will calm and quiet my soul.” Repeat this 2-3 times, close your eyes, and rest. Tomorrow, again, we meet the risen Christ and there is work to be done.
