Hope for Dawn!

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Holy Saturday!

We are grieving the death of Jesus. 

The moment of Jesus’ death is certainly the darkest hour. 

But is that all? Is there any hope after Jesus’ death?

African theologian Emmanuel Katongole illuminates the relationship between lament and hope and affirms that lament always leads to hope. He writes, ‘Lament is not despair or a cry into a void. Lament is a cry directed to God. Lament is prayer.”

As we lament Jesus’ death, let us look into the signs of hope. 

American theologian James Keenan writes elaborately on the Upper Room experience of the apostles after the death of Jesus. Though Mother Mary was deeply pained by the loss of her son, she had the responsibility of giving hope to the despairing followers. 

Under the leadership of Mother Mary, the apostles gathered in the Upper Room, where they had gathered with their master a few days earlier. In those moments of fear, despair, and dejection, they needed each other most. They leaned on one another for solidarity, comfort, and consolation. 

The women who accompanied Jesus did not withdraw into pessimism. Rather, even as they were grieving, they were busy preparing perfume for the body of Jesus. They were waiting for the dawn of the ‘first day of the week’ unaware that the day would change history forever. 

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus showed exemplary courage for their friendship with Jesus. 

All these instances show that, beyond grief, lament, and despair, there was hope. 

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Hope illuminates our failures, our disappointments, our bitterness, which seem to mark the collapse of everything.”

In the silence of Holy Saturday, there is reason for hope. 

In hope, we await the dawn!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar