HOly saturday

Date: April 16
Lectionary Link: https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Easter/CEasVigil_RCL.html 
Contributor:  Marion Hunner
 
Here we are at the close of Lent.  Many took on a Lenten discipline – perhaps adding or subtracting something in their daily lives.  Some diligently accomplished their goals; some wavered, returned, wavered, and returned; others started out strong and lost their way.  Whatever your journey was, there is value in the path you took.
 
And now, on Holy Saturday, we wait.   Christ has been crucified and buried. For many years, at St. Christopher’s, we held an Easter Vigil - coming together and sharing of stories of God’s People.  If you click on the lectionary link above, you will see that there are LOTS of readings.  At the vigil we shared many of them.  Some were sung, some were acted out, and some were read.  It was a way to revisit the journey that God’s people took from the Garden of Eden to Golgatha.
 
I believe that the telling of our stories is important.  People bond over common experiences, and they grow closer when they reveal personal stories.  This has been harder to do over the last two years, but I look forward to returning to in-person activities and reconnecting with God’s People of St. Christopher’s and beyond.
 
I want to close this reflection project with a prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book.  I feel like Lent has been our day, we settle into night, and Easter is the new dawn:
 
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In your name we pray. Amen.