Who Will Roll Back the Stone?
Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day. Genesis 1:19
Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? Psalm 42:2-3
Piety
Ikon: The Harrowing of Hell
by Denise Levertov (1923–1997)
Down through the tomb’s inward arch
He has shouldered out into Limbo
to gather them, dazed, from dreamless slumber:
the merciful dead, the prophets,
the innocents just His own age and those
unnumbered others waiting here
unaware, in an endless void He is ending
now, stooping to tug at their hands,
to pull them from their sarcophagi,
dazzled, almost unwilling. Didmas,
neighbor in death, Golgotha dust
still streaked on the dried sweat of his body
no one had washed and anointed, is here,
for sequence is not known in Limbo;
the promise, given from cross to cross
at noon, arches beyond sunset and dawn.
All these He will swiftly lead
to the Paradise road: they are safe.
That done, there must take place that struggle
no human presumes to picture:
living, dying, descending to rescue the just
from shadow, were lesser travails
than this: to break
through earth and stone of the faithless world
back to the cold sepulchre, tearstained
stifling shroud; to break from them
back into breath and heartbeat, and walk
the world again, closed into days and weeks again,
wounds of His anguish open, and Spirit
streaming through every cell of flesh
so that if mortal sight could bear
to perceive it, it would be seen
His mortal flesh was lit from within, now,
and aching for home. He must return,
first, in Divine patience, and know
hunger again, and give
to humble friends the joy
of giving Him food—fish and a honeycomb.
Study
Today, he lays in the tomb but is not resting. In our Credo, this is the day he “descended in hell” and opens the gates of heaven. We remain “athirst” but there is no Mass. There is no sacrament. There is only waiting and watching like Jesus invited Peter, James, and John in the Garden. The invitation remains open to us.
Holy Saturday may be the day of quiet. The church bells fell silent at the end of the Holy Thursday Gloria. They will not ring out again until the Vigil Gloria.
The test for Jesus is over. Lent ends. Sometime soon, God will put us to the test. Will we have the courage and gumption to answer like Abraham when God calls our name? “Here I am!” (Genesis 22:1)
Action
While Christ rests in the tomb, we are like the disciples in the garden. Keeping vigil. The term comes from the Latin word vigilia, which means "wakefulness," and which came to be used when the faithful stayed awake to pray and do devotional exercises in anticipation of the feast. Such wakefulness means that we are poised for action.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6
Our vigil ends when we know the answer to the question: "Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" Mark 16:3. Sit in patient hope knowing that “He will walk the world again.”
No comments:
Post a Comment