Tending Joy for Holy Saturday, March 30

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Matthew 27:57-61

Connect with creation: tell the story

Since ancient times, Christians have spent the night before Easter telling old stories to one another in the dark, stories of salvation from the Hebrew Bible: God molding creation out of chaos, God keeping promises, God saving in the midst of terror and trial. We tell stories as the dawn gets closer, until finally the stories culminate in the one we’ve all been waiting for: the one where Mary goes to the tomb in the predawn darkness and finds it empty.

During the first week of Lent, we dwelt alongside Noah and his family and learned about the persistent joy God bears toward humanity, choosing to love us despite the evil that we do and the sin that haunts us. This is the joy that sustains the Church’s vigil, keeping us singing softly throughout the night as we wait for the day to break.

Go to an Easter Vigil service tonight and see for yourself. If there’s not a service nearby, then get outside and see how creation seems to join in the watch. Look for flowers about to bloom, for green buds about to leaf out. Listen for birdsong returned, for the rushing waters of thawing rivers and creeks. Indoors, return to the rainbow photo collage you made during the first week of Lent. Let its colors seep into the prayers you pray today.