David Ancell / Saturday April 11, 2020
A couple of years ago, I posted an article that I named Why Doesn’t the World Stop on this blog. I was talking about the world-changing events that we celebrate during the Easter Triduum. It’s Holy Saturday as I write this after not having posted for a long time. With the COVID 19 threat looming over us, I guess the world did sort of stop (except, of course, for essential businesses). It is definitely not business as usual. The problem is that even our churches our closed, but I plan to write more on that later.
I’m not one to claim that COVID 19 is a punishment from God. I do not have knowledge of such things, nor will I claim to have. However, I do think that God wants us to use this time to stop our normal busyness and hyperactivity to take the time to be able to reflect. It may be that permanent changes in our lives for the better are going to result from this. I, for one, am grateful to not have to waste 2 – 3 hours or more of my life commuting every day.
If you haven’t done much reflecting, this Holy Saturday is a perfect time to do so. Even if we weren’t under the coronavirus threat, there wouldn’t be a Mass to go to right at this moment (at least not until the Easter Vigil). The Eucharist can only be given as viaticum, and no other Sacraments may be celebrated except Penance and Anointing of the Sick (Yes, Confessions may be heard during the Triduum.). On Holy Saturday, we remember when Jesus was in the tomb. Fasting, though not required, is recommended. Certainly the early Easter celebrations and the attending of venues of entertainment are out of character for this day.
This year, needless to say, is different in that the faithful will not be able to participate in a public celebration of Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday Mass. In a sense, we will be waiting at the tomb and doing our own kind of penance. However, with this comes some opportunities that we might not otherwise have. I remember hearing on one podcast that we all said we needed more family time, and now that we have it, we have decided our old schedule was just fine.
For those of you who have families, this is a great time to strengthen your relationships. For all of us, it should be a time to spend alone with God. We can reach out to each other through all of the technology we have. The fact is that it’s here for a reason even though our current crisis will definitely highlight how it is not enough. At this point, it’s what we have. Instead of longing to go back to the way things were before, we can take this time to think of how we want our lives to change and grow closer to God. This isn’t going to be easy, and who knows when it will end. Let’s pray for each other and for an end to this crisis, and let’s trust that God will bring good out of all of this.
Category: Catholic, Spirituality
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Thank you for this reflection, David.
This has been and will continue to be a silent, holy time with our Lord and Holy Mother. We are given these days to come closer to God. May God bless you and your family during the upcoming Easter Season!