Holy Week 2014: Holy Saturday

The shepherd has been struck, the sheep are scattered. The Lord knew this would happen and this concern must have been there, gnawing at Him in his Agony in the Garden at the beginning of His passion. What was to happen to the faithful few who had stayed with Him to the end? The shepherd must lay down His life for the sheep.

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

So, behind the stone, in the cold and darkness, a power is at work and its effect will be astonishing.

O Lord Jesu Christ, the Good Shepherd, preserve the righteous, justify sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful, and be gracious to me, a miserable and wretched sinner. Amen