Reflection for April 19 Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter: Luke 24:1-12

Gospel: Luke 24:1-12

At daybreak on the first day of the week the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 

While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. 

Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. 

The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.

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Reflection:

How would you react if you were with the women who went to the burial site of Jesus?

You surely would also be amazed, and perhaps you would also ask, “Where is the body of my Lord?” There was no physical manifestation of Jesus’ resurrection except for the stone rolled away from the tomb and Jesus’ burial cloths. Where was Jesus then? Where can we find the Lord? We should not look far, for the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is not far from us.

Many of us look for Jesus, especially when we are being buffeted by problems. Some of us may even ask, “Where are You, Lord, while I was going through the storms of my life?” Since our baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ has always been with us, and He is an ever-present part of our lives—yet we have no awareness of it.

Many of us are unaware of His presence in our lives because we don’t call upon Him as often as we can. Yet Jesus is always there for us. If we would only try to call on Jesus, we surely would find Him. We would surely be enlightened about His ever-present presence in our lives.

Instead of always being connected to our smartphones and other hi-tech gadgets, let us try to always be connected to our Lord. Then we would find that our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is always an ever-present presence in our lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas