Verse: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. Response: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Scripture: Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, and wrapping it in a clean linen cloth, he laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn out of rock. Then he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and departed. Matthew 27: 59 – 60
Reflection: Jesus, your body is prepared for burial. Joseph gave you his own tomb. He laid your body there and rolled a large stone in front of it, then went home. What a sad day it has been for so many people. Jesus, laid in the tomb, you share with all humanity in the tragedy of death. Death affects us all – death of a loved one, death of a marriage, death of a dream – and it questions us in a deeply profound way, especially when it touches us so closely. Death is a silence which speaks and expresses love as solidarity with those who have been neglected, those whom the Son of God reaches, filling the emptiness that only the infinite mercy of God can fill. The apparent victory over evil vanishes before the empty tomb and before the certainty of the resurrection because nothing can defeat, obscure or weaken the love of God. O Jesus, dead and buried, may your cross transform our hardened hearts into hearts of flesh that are able to dream, to forgive, and to love.
Prayer: Almighty and eternal God, on the edge of sadness when all seemed lost, You restored to me the Savior I thought defeated and conquered. Help me empty myself of self-concern and self-indulgence, and grant me your compassion that I might see your hand in every failure, your victory in every defeat and always provide for those in need.
Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, AMEN.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, AMEN.