WEEK EIGHTEEN: CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH DAY 5 - Holy Saturday
"MORNING PRAYER: Act of Faith; Act of Hope; Act of Charity; Daily Offering
MORNING FACE TO FACE WITH GOD:
Begin with Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Prayer on John 19: 38-42: The Burial of Jesus: "After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took the body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by."
Read the Reflection; then pray using John 19: 38-42; ask for sorrow with Christ in sorrow, anguish with Christ in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Christ endures for me (#203).
After Jesus' death, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, members of the Sanhedrin, declared their commitment and loyalty to Jesus in public. They were now willing to help in the burial rituals required for Jesus, knowing full well that in doing so they would incur the wrath of the Sanhedrin. As members of the Sanhedrin, they knew of the ban against offering burial rites to a criminal. In their minds, Jesus was not a criminal. Rather He was the Savior of the world. So they were not afraid to defy the ban. At this time of peril, Nicodemus came forward in fearless avowal of his faith in the crucified Savior. Were it not for his generosity, Jesus would have been buried as a criminal, with no burial rites. As it turned out, Jesus chose to be buried with no burial rites as He rose from the dead before the rites were completed. When Jesus had been lifted up on the cross, Nicodemus remembered the words that He had spoken to him in the night interview: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life" (John 3: 14-15). Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea came to believe!" Taken from Mold me as Your Disciple by Michael Fonseca.
Was it the Resurrected Christ or the Crucified Christ that saved Nicodemus and Joesph of Arimathea? Is it playing it safe or putting it all on the line that breathes the life of Christ in you? I can't help but think of the popular message of the day to live in the Risen Lord and to ignore the Crucified Christ. There was a cost to Nicodemus and Joesph, there was a cost to Jesus and there will be a cost as you follow Christ. You can try and hide it(won't work) or you can live it accepting the outcome and running the race. Hidden within the verses above is the hand of God, preparing the way. He prepared the followers of Jesus, He prepared a place for Jesus to be buried, He prepared Jesus and He prepares each of us in our daily lives. "If running against men has wearied you, how will you race against horses? And if you are safe only on a level stretch, what will you do in the jungle of the Jordan?" Jeremiah 12:5
What is God saying to you? I have prepared the way, you are not alone.
Dear Father God, I thank You for Your companionship, for Your love that resides in my heart, for the joy of Family enjoying each other's company. Encourage us Lord to enter the race, to pick up our crosses and live life to its fullest with You by our sides. Prayers for friends mourning this weekend, help them see the race that was won. Thank You Jesus for being faithful to Your Father and showing us the way. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mary, Queen of Heaven, Pray for us.
St Joesph, Most Courageous, Pray for us.
Viva Cristo Rey
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4b
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