Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

HOLY SATURDAY

“A NEW DAY”

            It was the Prophet Isaiah who after prophesizing on the horrors of Good Friday; ended his prophesy with a note of hope: “...so will the crowds be astonished at him and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before” (Isaiah 52:15). The whole drama from Good Friday to Holy Saturday was full of mixed feelings and emotions. Three main groups who were instrumental on the Good Friday event were tensed up and restless. The Jewish hierarchy, the Office of the Roman Governor, and the disciples were waiting for the results of the final words of Jesus: “cut this tree down and in three days, I will rise.”

            The whole drama started when a certain Joseph of Arimathea, a man that legend has it that he was a distant relative of Mary, mother of Jesus (but this legend lacks historicity); visited the court of Pontius Pilate. When Pilate through his secretary made enquiries on his mission, he responded by saying: “I am Joseph of Arimathea and on my knees I pray you my Lord for permission to bury Jesus.” Pilate responded by saying: “Your prayer is granted.” Legend has it that though Pilate granted the permission, he wasn’t at ease at all. To avoid the occasion of stealing the body and spreading the news that he has risen from the dead, he immediately summoned Manlius (a commander of the Roman garrison stationed in Judaea) to take some soldiers with him to superintend the interment.

            It is believed that the Jewish hierarchy motivated the soldiers to keep a watchful eye on the tomb. With all these happenings, the disciples were behind lock and key in an upper room for the fear of the authorities. It was a tense atmosphere in the upper room. Tonight, all over the world Christians will gather in Basilicas, cathedrals, township and village churches to celebrate Easter Vigil in tranquility and peace but the fear that gripped the disciples in the upper room is beyond words. Can you describe your emotions and feelings, when you awaited the results of a lab test after a doctor had informed you that there is a possibility of a terminal disease? If you have been in such a situation, then you may have a feeling of what was going through the minds of the disciples that night. Though the night was dreadful over two thousand years ago, today we reenact it with joy because for us today, it was the beginning of a new day; a day that came to change “the Christian tapestries.” The tapestry of the horrors of Good Friday was now a tapestry of light and a chorus choir singing the Alleluia song.

            The beauty of this night is significant in many ways but three of utmost beauty are the symbol of the light, the baptismal waters, and the Alleluia chorus.

            During the two great holy nights of the Church year, Christmas and Easter, the symbolism of light fuses with the symbolism of night. On both occasions, the Church uses the interplay of night and light to show symbolically what the content of the feast in question is: the encounter of God and the world, the victorious entry of God into a world that refuses him room and yet in the end cannot prevent him from taking it.

            This Christ-centered drama of light and darkness, of God and the world as they encounter each other, begins on Christmas, when God knocks on the door of a world that rejects him even though it belongs to him (John 1:5-11). But the world cannot prevent his coming. He himself becomes “world” in becoming a man. His coming brought light to a darkened world though his people rejected the light.

            Now, on Easter, the drama reaches its central climax. The darkness has used its ultimate weapon; death. In orderly judicial fashion, it has declared Truth and Love to be the chief criminals of world history and has condemned the light-bringer. But the Resurrection effects the great reversal. Light has won the victory and now lives on invincibly. Most important of all, it has made the world its own and transformed it into itself.

            It is this transformative power that comes with the mystery of the Resurrection into which Mother Church invites her catechumens to the baptismal waters. Through the mystery of the baptismal waters the old life of sin and darkness make way for a life of grace and light. It is nights like this that the newly baptised together with those who renew their baptismal promises sing a new Alleluia song. The Alleluia song is meant to be sung when we enter the New Jerusalem (Heaven) but we are allowed to anticipate that day because of the joy that has regaled our hearts this night.

            The author of the book of Revelations tells us that we shall sing this new song in all its fullness only in the “new world”, when God calls us by a new name and everything has been made new (Rev. 2:17). But we are permitted to anticipate something of this in the great joy of the Easter vigil. For singing, and especially the singing of the new song, is in the final analysis simply the outward expression of joy. May our singing of the Alleluia song bring us joy. HAPPY EASTER. OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP PRAY FOR US.