HOMILY FOR HOLY SATURDAY. (3)

HOMILY FOR HOLY SATURDAY.

THEME: Waiting and Hoping.

BY: Deacon Bill Frere

Gospel – Matthew 28:1-10

I am guessing here that, for most of us, one of our fondest childhood memories was the simple cookie jar. Whether it was at home or perhaps at Gramma’s house, it seemed to provide us with a never-ending supply of yummy goodness. It was the treasure chest that we all enjoyed. Countless times we would sneak into the pantry while no one was looking and grab a fistful of cookies and stuff our mouths!

Source of great joy in childhood! Knowing the jar was full and finding ways to sneak into the pantry, grabbing a fistful of cookies and trying not to leave any crumbs, evidence, behind. Even today, while the cookie jar has disappeared, whenever I go home to visit my mom, I still sneak into the pantry, numerous times, and dig into the bags of cookies sitting on the shelf.

But as much as a full cookie jar was a delight and joy, not so an empty one! The empty cookie jar was always a source of sadness. Even worse was mom or dad was holding that empty jar and confronting us with ‘where did all the cookies go?’! That meant someone was caught, someone got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. That meant not just sadness but fear and hopelessness. Bad times were coming and things would not end well!

Which brings us to today’s Gospel. What strikes me as odd is not what is in the scene at the tomb but what is missing! There’s Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, there’s the guards and an earthquake and even an angel. But at the tomb, there is no Jesus. Jesus does not appear to them at the end of the Gospel.

All we have is an empty tomb! You would think they would be in anguish and sorrow but that is not the case. But the Gospel says: “Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples”.

RELATED: HOMILY FOR HOLY SATURDAY.

It is only later that Jesus appears to them and yet they are already overjoyed! What is it that makes them joyful? It’s what’s missing in the tomb! Not what is there! It’s the empty tomb. Unlike an empty cookie jar which might fill us with sadness and even terrified, it is the empty tomb that fills them with joy!

They saw and believed! They believed! Not because of what they saw but because of what they didn’t see! They didn’t see a body; they saw an empty tomb and they believed! Such an intense moment of faith! Faith in Jesus! Faith in His words and teachings! Faith in His promise of the Resurrection and new life in the Kingdom!

Many years ago, when I was working as Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University, I said good night and ‘have a good weekend’ to Charlie, my dean and good friend. And that was the last time I saw him alive. A few hours later, he suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away. It was an awful moment, an event I am sure we all have experienced, a time of utter grief and sorrow, of loss and pain, a time of emptiness!

That emptiness remains with me even today. But it also continues to be a moment of faith. If I ever had any doubts before, this was the moment when all those doubts disappeared! And as much as I grieved over his loss, it was the moment in my life that I truly believed that death was not the end! That there is a loving and compassionate God who shelters and protects us! And that without question there is a Resurrection, life after death!

That is why we gather on Holy Thursday – to celebrate, to re-affirm our faith in God, our love for Jesus who sacrificed Himself for us on the cross and rose from the dead, and our hope of joining Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The tomb is empty! But our hearts are full, filled with faith in the Risen Lord! Alleluia

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