March 30, Holy Saturday
Daily Readings: Genesis 1:1—2:2, Genesis 22:1-18, Exodus 14:15—15:1, Isaiah 54:5-14, Isaiah 55:1-11, Baruch 3:9-15, 32--4:4, Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28, Romans 6:3-11, Mark 16:1-7
Ash Wednesday set in motion a forty-day Lenten observance that led to the celebrations of this holy night. The liturgical readings allow us to live through the history of salvation. Holy Mother Church helps us recognize God as the Creator-God. God speaks. The spoken word is the Son of God. The Spirit of God moves over the waters. We already had a perfect picture of the Holy Trinity God at the time of creation. We also acknowledge and pray to God that He may keep sending His Spirit to renew the face of the earth.
That is the first stage of salvation history. The second important stage begins with the call of Abraham. God promised to make him the father of the multitude. Till Abraham becomes a hundred years old, he will never have a child of his own. Abraham’s test is not yet over when Isaac is born. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. He responds positively but God devises ways of rewarding Abraham’s faith. In Abraham, we can catch a glimpse of God’s fatherly love and concern for humanity!
God keeps on working in the lives of the chosen people. In the company of Moses and Aaron, God works for the liberation of His people from Egyptian slavery. During the night of liberation, when God passes through the Hebrews' houses and saves them while He kills the Egyptians' firstborn, the concept of the Passover festival takes root. Since then, the Jews have begun to celebrate this annual festival. That is what we celebrated on Maundy Thursday year after year.
For St. Paul, dying to sin is a prerequisite for Christian life. Our baptism into Christ is an invitation to die with him and rise from the dead with him. When we rise with Christ, we will walk in the newness of life. The resurrection is all about new life in Christ. St. Paul considers the resurrection of Jesus to be a given.
The Gospel reading from St. Mark says that three women went to the tomb of Jesus, not in the hope of seeing him alive but to anoint his dead body. St. Mark is trying to draw our attention to three specific expressions: (i) Very early (in the morning), (ii) on the first day of the week and (iii) when the sun had risen. The darkness and death are over. There is now a new dawn. There is a new light, along with a new life. The women face a huge problem: “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” (v. 3). God is aware of the solutions to our problems. What are the stones that we wish to remove from our hearts and our lives? Do we hope and pray that God may work wonders in our lives?
Call to Action for Catholic Living: Faith in the risen Lord is the beginning of new life. Are we ready to look at the risen Jesus with hope?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
