"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." |
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Second reading Office of Readings
From an ancient
homily on Holy Saturday
"The Lord descends into hell."
Something strange is happening—there is a great silence
on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence
because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has
fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since
the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost
sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow
of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is
both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the
weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he
had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be
with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the
hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and
Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son.
Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command
all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be
enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I
did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am
the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my
image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you;
together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord,
took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the
earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a
man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden,
I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore
to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I
received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see
the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs
upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once
wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you
who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed
the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword
that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of
the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will
enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life,
but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to
guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The
throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal
chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are
prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of
heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
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Yes, Christ’s death broke the rock of our stony hearts and His resurrection gave us the human heart of compassion. He made it possible for us to live for others instead of just for ourselves. He brought us from our animal existence to the land of promise, to freedom, as children of the Father, no longer slaves to the scapegoat mechanism. Hallelujah, He is risen, and so are we as long as we trust in His Word.
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