The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Saturday, 30 March 2024
Teach us to be silent today,
God our Father,
as we remember your Son
Jesus Christ’s Great Silence –
Magnum Silentium –
when he was “crucified,
died and was buried;
he descended to the dead
and on the third day
he rose again.”
On this Holy Saturday,
your whole creation comes to full circle.
In the beginning,
after completing your work of creation,
you rested on the seventh day
and made it holy (Gen.2:3).
On the seventh day
after completing his mission here on earth,
Jesus Christ was laid to rest.
Silence and rest always go together.
Let us realize, Father,
that to be silent
is not merely to be quiet
but to listen more to Your voice
coming from the depths of our being; hence,
silence is not emptiness
but fullness with You, dear God.
It is in silence
where we truly discover
our selves and others too.
Likewise,
to rest is not merely to stop work
nor stop from being busy;
we rest to reconnect with You
to be filled with your Holy Spirit.
You do not rest, O God,
because you never get tired;
it is us who need to rest
so we may continue
Your work of creation and,
now of redemption
and renewal by Jesus Christ.
When we rest,
we return to Eden,
like the garden where Jesus was buried:
“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” (Jn. 19:41-42).
John 19:41-42
How beautiful is that image,
dear Father,
of Your rest and silence in Eden
and of Jesus laid to rest
at a tomb in a garden:
to rest in silence is therefore
when we stop playing God
as we return to You
as Your image and likeness again!
God,
we are afraid of silence
because we are also afraid
of the truth, of trusting You;
Jesus was crucified because
we have always been
afraid to trust You
and be truthful to You and
ourselves.
Teach us to be like the women
who rested on the sabbath
when Jesus was laid to rest;
like them, may we trust You more
by being true to ourselves.
The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56
May your silence and rest reassure us that we shall rise with you again. Amen.
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