Holy Saturday – morning reflection
April 16, 2022

… suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell ….

How ought Christians spend Holy Saturday morning and afternoon?  Is this time simply an extension of the tenor and tone of Good Friday?  What happened to Jesus during the time between His Death and Resurrection?

Although Jesus was not subject to death as every sinner is, Jesus submitted to death.  His sacred Body did not undergo corruption or decay during this time.  However, Jesus was “divided”, so to speak, during the time between His Death and Resurrection.

When a sinner such as you or I dies, the sinner’s body and soul are separated.  The body decays, while the soul heads off towards its eternal reward or punishment.  The souls of those headed for Heaven may have to wayfare through Purgatory.  Yet regardless of where the soul heads after death, it will not be reunited with its body until the end of time.  However, after Jesus’ death, something very different happened.

The Nicene Creed, which the Church usually professes at Sunday Mass, does not mention what Jesus did between His burial and His Resurrection.  But the Apostles’ Creed does affirm that “he descended into hell” (Latin: “infernos”; Hebrew: “Sheol”; Greek: “Hades”).  This is not the place where the damned face eternal punishment.  Instead, the Catechism refers to it simply as “the abode of the dead” [CCC 633].

Even morally good persons who died before Christ’s saving Death were destined for this “abode of the dead”.  Due to the merit of sin, both Original Sin and actual sin, even those who were just in terms of their human moral actions could not enter Heaven.  Only by the grace and merit of Christ’s Passion and Death could anyone enter into the presence of the Trinity in Heaven.

So when Jesus descended into the abode of the dead, He revealed Himself—bearing the wounds of His Passion and Death—to the just.  Those who wished were able to follow Jesus out of that abode and into Heaven.  This saving work that Jesus carried out is traditionally called “the harrowing of Hell”.  This saving work that Jesus performed even as His sacred Body lay in death reminds us of the depth and extent of God’s love.  At the same time, this work is a call to Jesus’ disciples to bear in daily life a love for others that is as deep and far-ranging.

Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13—53:12  +  Hebrews 4:14-16;5:7-9  +  John 18:1—19:42

We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.

What is most striking about the scene in Gethsemane is not the betrayal of Judas, but the wandering of the other apostles.  Only two continued to follow Jesus after his arrest, Peter and John.  They follow Jesus, bound and carried away by the soldiers, at a distance:  their faith is wavering.  We know that before the night is over, Peter denies his Lord and Savior three times.

It is only John, the Beloved Disciple, who continues to journey with Jesus.  It is John who is beneath the cross with our Blessed Mother Mary.  We can be sure that even at the Cross, John, the youngest of the apostles, perhaps in his early twenties at this time, did not fully understand the death of his Master.  He wept for his Lord but could not fully understand what was taking place there on Calvary.

We know that of the apostles, only one did not become a martyr, and that apostle was Saint John.  It was he who had been faithful to the Lord’s Cross, who had shared Our Lord’s death not at the end of his life, but near the beginning.  Throughout the rest of his life as an apostle he prayed deeply about this great gift, this great sacrifice that Christ made.  Throughout the rest of St. John’s life, as he continued to serve others, his mind turned back, year after year, to that Good Friday and the hill of Calvary, where the love and the glory of God were brilliantly revealed.

Through the Eucharist which Christ, at the Last Supper, had given St. John the power to celebrate, John was able to enter into that scene once again, to return to that day which is today, and to that hill of Calvary.

There is no offering of the sacrifice of the Mass on Good Friday.  Yet still we are able to share in the fruits of that sacrifice.  As we enter into Holy Communion with Our Lord, let us turn our minds again to the sacrifice of Calvary, and the love in Christ’s Sacred Heart by which He offered it for our salvation.

Holy Thursday — Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Exodus 12:1-8,11-14  +  1 Corinthians 11:23-26  +  John 13:1-15

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the chalice, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

St. Paul, who was not present at the Last Supper because he was called to be an apostle after Pentecost, records the “institution narrative” of the Eucharist in his first letter to the Corinthians [11:23-25].  The institution narrative—recorded not only by St. Paul but also in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke—gives us the words of Jesus from the Last Supper which the priest speaks at the Consecration.

In the mere three verses of his institution narrative, St. Paul does not detail the background of the Last Supper.  Yet he makes several points in the larger passage in which it’s set that help us appreciate the gift of the Eucharist.

St. Paul introduces his institution narrative by establishing a framework for discussion of the Eucharist.  He notes:  “I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you”.  This frame establishes the importance of Sacred Tradition.  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not something that the Church makes up.  Even less does the Church reject what has been received.  Less yet does the Church deliver to others something different than what was received.

Another of St. Paul’s points immediately follows his institution narrative.  He first instructs the Corinthians:  “as often as you eat this bread and drink the chalice, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” [11:26].  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is, chiefly, a proclamation of Jesus’ death.

Then St. Paul soberly warns the Corinthians of a damning truth.  “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” [11:27].  His words not only point to the truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  His words also admonish believers that the Eucharist must only be received worthily, in the state of grace and free from mortal sin.

He clarifies this truth as he continues.  “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself” [11:28-29].

St. Paul discerned that he was one who was to judge the Corinthians.  Throughout Chapter 11 of his first letter to the Corinthians, he discusses the Corinthians’ sins, sins which were tearing apart the Church:  the Mystical Body of Christ.  God had called Paul to the responsibility of apostleship, and he carried out this responsibility with a sacred purpose.  That purpose was to strengthen the precious gift of the Church, which becomes the Church chiefly by means of the gift of the Holy Eucharist.

Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50:4-9  +  Matthew 26:14-25

… from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

Scandals in the Church highlight reflection on Judas Iscariot.  Why did Jesus ever choose him to be an apostle?  Didn’t Jesus know that Judas would betray Him?  Or is that precisely why He chose Him?

Divine Providence is difficult to parse.  It’s difficult, and perhaps even pointless, for us to reflect upon Judas from God’s providential point of view.  However, the Church does call us to reflect upon Judas from our own point of view:  that is, as sinners like Judas.

Can each of us imagine hearing Jesus say about oneself:  “It would be better for that man if he had never been born”?  Surely, we tell ourselves, such words only apply to the worst of sinners, such as Judas?  In fact, Jesus did not choose Judas for eternal damnation:  rather, Judas chose that for himself.  Likewise, each of us chooses each of our sins.  It’s in the face of one’s sins that one has a choice to remain in sin, or to turn to Jesus as the one through whom we can find forgiveness.  Even and especially in our sins, Jesus wants us to turn to Him.  Yet we remain free until death to make the choices that we will.

Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-6  +  John 13:21-33,36-38

So Judas took the morsel and left at once.  And it was night.

On the last two days of Lent before the Sacred Triduum starts, the Gospel Reading focuses on Judas Iscariot.  Yet while tomorrow’s passage from Matthew looks solely at Judas, today’s passage from John also looks at Peter, another apostle who will betray Jesus.

Jesus is God.  As a divine person, He could at any moment during Holy Week have turned away from the path leading to Calvary.  Even on the afternoon of Good Friday as He hung upon the Cross, He could have miraculously escaped, transporting Himself far away to safety:  indeed, even to Heaven.

All that is to say that Jesus is the primary “actor” in the drama of Holy Week.  The acts that Jesus did or did not carry out during Holy Week determined man’s salvation.  Any other “actor” within this drama is a second-string player.

Why, then, do the Gospel Readings today and tomorrow focus more upon those who betrayed Jesus than on Our Savior Himself?  The answer is that the Church is calling you to recognize yourself in Judas and Peter.

In the sinful persons of Judas and Peter we witness two different types of betrayal:  Judas by deed, Peter by word; Judas with a kiss, Peter by turning his back.  Judas cries, “Hail, Rabbi!”, while Peter cries, “I do not know the man!”

There are many different ways in our lives by which we betray Jesus.  But there is only one way for the chasm between our sins and God’s love to be bridged, and that is Jesus’ self-sacrifice upon the Cross.

Monday of Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-7  +  John 12:1-11

Here is my servant whom I uphold, / my chosen one with whom I am pleased ….

The Old Testament’s Book of the Prophet Isaiah contains four brief passages called “servant songs”.  Isaiah never names the servant who is described.  But in the earliest years of the Church, these servant songs were sung in praise of Christ, who fulfilled during Holy Week what they proclaim.

The First Reading on Monday of Holy Week presents the first of these four servant songs.  We might imagine God the Father speaking these words of His only-begotten Son, whom He sent from the paradise of Heaven into our world of sin and death.

Jesus is a servant.  All the words that Jesus speaks and all that He does and bears this week reveals Him as a servant.  Yet He’s a servant in a two-fold way, and we ought at the beginning of Holy Week reflect upon both of these.

Whom is Jesus serving through the sacred events of Holy Week?  Secondly, He is serving us.  All that He speaks, does, and suffers is for us:  to bring us salvation.

First, however, Jesus is serving His heavenly Father.  During Holy Week it’s easy for us to lose sight of God the Father.  Our view can become myopic, focused simply upon Jesus saving us.  But in saving us from the power of sin and death, Jesus is preparing us for new life.  This new life is given to us even during our earthly days through the gifts, the fruits, and the grace of the Holy Spirit.  But this new life in this world is only a foretaste of eternal life with our Father in Heaven.  Jesus is serving His Father during Holy Week because God the Father longs for each us to enter into His company.

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Ezekiel 37:21-28  +  John 11:45-56

So from that day on they planned to kill him.

This morning’s Gospel Reading bears a sense of anxious anticipation.  Its final verse leaves us on the edge of our pew:  “They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, ‘What do you think?  That he will not come to the feast?’”

Just a few verses before, St. John the Evangelist explains the reason for the heightened sense of anxiety:  “So from that day on they planned to kill him.”  The motive for this plan of the chief priests and Pharisees is the focus of this morning’s three readings.

Both this morning’s First Reading and Responsorial Psalm come from books of Old Testament prophets:  the First Reading, from Ezekiel; and the Psalm, from Jeremiah.  Both look to Israel’s future, when a shepherd king would reign over a united Israel.  The Responsorial is very strong in describing this shepherd

Yet the language of king is only implied, although in two ways.  First, Ezekiel prophesies about Israel being restored to one kingdom.  However, second and more intriguingly, Ezekiel prophesies that “there shall be one prince for them all”:  not one “king”, but one “prince”.  Twice in the verses that follow, Ezekiel identities David as this prince.  Through the prophet the Lord declares:  “My servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one shepherd for them all”; in the Holy Land, Israel shall dwell “with my servant David their prince forever.”

Everything that Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesy about this shepherd king is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  More specifically, Jesus fulfills His earthly mission as Christ the King upon the Cross on Good Friday.  Jesus is drawing close to “His hour”.  Through the New Passover—the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—we are able to enter into Jesus’ life and saving mission.

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Jeremiah 20:10-13  +  John 10:31-42

“If I do not perform my Father’s works, put no faith in me.”

Some disagree with the saying, “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” claiming that a little is better than none.  They do not see that those having the “little” often self-righteously and proudly conclude they “know it all.”

The Pharisees, purported Scripture scholars and experts in the Mosaic Law, fell into this latter category.  When Christ revealed Himself to them as the Messiah, though they had well documented knowledge of the miracles He had performed, they immediately rejected the evidence, accused Him of blasphemy and prepared to stone Him.

What rendered them more dangerous than their intellectual presumption, and perhaps their fear of losing authority and position, was their faithlessness, their lack of God’s light and love.  In this, Christ Jesus is their opposite, and this opposition to the Pharisees is what each of us must imitate:  knowing that in God, we have everything we are, and that all we are, God calls us to give:  for the sake of others, and for the greater glory of God.

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord [C]
Luke 19:28-40  +  Isaiah 50:4-7  +  Philippians 2:6-11  +  Luke 22:14—23:56

… he humbled himself, / becoming obedient to the point of death, / even death on a cross.

The Roman Missal is the book from which the priest offers most of the prayers at Holy Mass.  During most of Holy Mass, it rests upon the altar of sacrifice.  Within this book, in the header for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, it states:  “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed.”

The verb used is “may be observed”.  That begs the question:  ought this practice be observed?  We might also question why this practice may be observed from that particular Sunday of Lent onwards.  Those two questions are related.

The latter question is partly answered by the prayer that the priest prays before the ancient hymn known as the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”).  This prayer is called the Preface because it introduces the Eucharistic Prayer.  The Preface changes throughout the Church year, relating the day’s season or feast to the Eucharistic Prayer.

On the weekdays following the Fifth Sunday of Lent—that is, this past week—the Roman Missal directs the priest to pray “Preface I of the Passion of the Lord”.  On the weekdays between Palm Sunday and the start of the Sacred Triduum, the priest prays “Preface II of the Passion of the Lord”.  This focus upon the Passion of the Christ is why these two weeks are traditionally called “Passiontide”.

Passiontide is part of Lent.  We might even say that it’s a gradation of Lent.  Consider:  when you climb an imposing mountain, you ascend in stages.  At the mountain’s base, the climb is easier.  Higher up, the difficulty increases as rock formations and other obstacles present themselves.  But when you reach the mountain’s tree line, an even more serious approach is required, as you cope with rarified air.

To apply that analogy to the Church’s preparation for Easter, the peak of the mountain—the goal of the climb—is the Sacred Triduum:  the three days during which the Church celebrates Jesus’ Last Supper, Death, and Resurrection.  The prior week and a half—Passiontide—is the last stretch of climb in rarified air.  Prior to Passiontide, the majority of the climb stretches from Ash Wednesday until the Sunday before Palm Sunday.  What’s more, in the calendar of the Extraordinary Form of Holy Mass, there is a period of preparation for the Sacred Triduum even before Ash Wednesday:  this period starts on the ninth Sunday before Easter, and is called Septuagesima.

On Palm Sunday, two Gospel passages are proclaimed:  one at the start of Mass and the other at the usual time of the Gospel.  The first Gospel passage this Sunday is easy to hear.  The crowds praise Jesus.  They hail Jesus as their Messiah.  All along, however, Jesus knows that their praise is hollow.  He hears their words, but He knows their hearts.  He knows the climb that stretches out before Him in the week to come.

The events proclaimed in the Passion narrative are the events of Good Friday, the summit of the mount.  Upon Mount Calvary, God the Father sacrifices His Son, Mary sacrifices her Son, and Jesus sacrifices His whole self:  Body and Blood, soul and divinity.  Few of Jesus’ disciples were both able and willing to ascend and remain with Jesus at the top of this mountain.  Few of them had pure faith.

While the Passion narrative is proclaimed on Palm Sunday at the usual time of the Gospel Reading, the Church proclaims the Passion narrative a second time during Holy Week, as part of the Good Friday Liturgy.  There is a difference between these two proclamations, however.  On Good Friday, it is always the Passion narrative from St. John’s Gospel account that’s proclaimed.  On Palm Sunday, the Passion narrative comes from one of the other three Gospel accounts.  These narratives complement each other and focus our attention on different aspects of Jesus’ suffering for us.

Jesus invites you to spend this week with Him as He makes His ascent.  It’s easier for you to praise Jesus this Palm Sunday.  It’s more difficult to share in His self-offering on Mount Calvary, as it demands a more pure faith.  God is calling us to rely solely upon the sight that comes from faith, and to keep the eyes of the soul fixed upon the glory of Christ crucified.