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“Fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist” (John 13:3-5).

St. Peter Julian Eymard focused especially on the love in the heart of Christ at the moment of the institution of the  Eucharist, a love that reaches down through the centuries to each of us. He believed that the spiritual life is summarized in a love which imitates Christ's self-giving.

For Fr. Eymard, the Eucharist is the “now” mystery of Jesus, the mystery that sums up all the others. Theology expresses this in the words covenant and memorial. “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end.” These words from   John 13 were a constant inspiration for Eymard. The love of the risen Christ giving himself continually as food, as body broken, as blood poured out for others, was the subject of his contemplation and the inspiration for everything he did.

“Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. . . . I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. ‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it and will glorify it again’” (John 12:23-24, 27-28).

Holy Saturday ends with the exuberant joy of the Easter Vigil, but it begins with silence, the silence that enveloped all creation following the death of the Savior. Much as we might wish to do so, we are not called to rush to the events of Easter until nightfall and the dawn of the new day, but to spend today in the silence of waiting.

Not all waiting is the same. There is the waiting of hope: for an opportunity to present itself, a relationship to grow, a long-desired child to be born. There is the waiting of the unknown: for an end to pain and struggle, for some semblance of peace, for death to take a loved one beside whose bed we stand, as if on Calvary. What are you most seeking? Wait in silence today for God to answer.

The city was quiet, thankfully, Pilate thought to himself as he welcomed invited guests, among them the commander of the garrisons maintaining order in the streets of Jerusalem, always difficult at Passover with the fervor of Jewish nationalism awakened. A potential rebellion was quashed and its charismatic leader condemned and crucified, a warning to any who would oppose Roman rule.

Near the temple, the family of Caiaphas the high priest gathered for a meal steeped in prayer and tradition. The events of the last days ‒ the hurried arrest, trial, and execution of Jesus of Nazareth ‒ receded as they reclined at table. The blasphemer's tomb was secured, the followers of the latest failed “messiah” dispersed, and the threat of military intervention avoided.

That Sabbath night, peace returned to the remote Roman Province of Judea and to the House of God in Jerusalem. The story of Jesus was over.

But was it? God’s answer to evil and sin, to violence and intransigent disbelief is the resurrection of his Son, the Lord of all ages and peoples! “The right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the right hand of the Lord is exalted. I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalm 118:16-17). Christ is risen!