{"id":35765,"date":"2019-04-08T14:25:17","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T12:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lourdes-france.org\/?page_id=35765"},"modified":"2021-03-02T16:08:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:08:13","slug":"meditation-for-holy-saturday-20th-april","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lourdes-france.org\/en\/meditation-for-holy-saturday-20th-april\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation for Holy Saturday 20th April."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Let us reflect on Isaiah (The fifth Reading for the Easter Vigil).<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIsaiah<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t55: 1-11 <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today the Church is quiet, waiting for the promise of the Resurrection. \u00a0 <\/span>After accompanying the Lord in His Passion and witnessing His death, there is nothing to see today. \u00a0 <\/span>This helps us to be reflective and go over what we have seen.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The reading begins with the prophet, speaking in the name of the Lord, and pleading. \u00a0 <\/span>The invitation to come to the water reminds us of the water that flowed from Christ\u2019s side as He hung upon the Cross (John 19:34), the fountain of living water, the\u00a0 <\/span>Holy Spirit. \u00a0 <\/span>Though we do not have the means of paying, we are not rejected (verse 1). \u00a0 <\/span>On the contrary, the things that money is able to buy cannot satisfy. \u00a0 <\/span>Here we are invited to reflect on our bankruptcy before God. \u00a0 <\/span>Do I know, in the depth of my being, that I am bankrupt before God, that I have nothing to offer Him for my salvation?\u00a0 <\/span>The weakness of not believing that sins already confessed have been forgiven and forgotten, may by God\u2019s grace be turned into a means of realising my utter dependence on God for salvation.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Reminding ourselves how willingly and completely Christ offered His life in obedience to the Father may also help us to know our bankruptcy. \u00a0 <\/span>The day before she died,\u00a0 <\/span>Saint Bernadette\u00a0 <\/span>said to Sister Nathalie\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMy dear Sister, I\u2019m afraid, \u00a0 <\/span>I have received so many graces and I have profited so little from them.\u201d \u00a0 <\/span>In other words, the awareness of God\u2019s generosity and my poor response may also help me to know that I have nothing to offer for my salvation. \u00a0 <\/span>Has my Lenten observance deepened this awareness in me?

<\/span>One of the aspects in which the Lord\u2019s ways are different to ours (verses 8-9) is in His readiness to be merciful and forgive. \u00a0 <\/span>The Lord finds His delight in showing mercy (Micah 7:18). \u00a0 <\/span>Can I say that showing mercy is more of a delight and than a sacrifice?\u00a0 <\/span>Does this influence the way I see myself and relate to the Lord?\u00a0

<\/span>At the end of our preparation for Easter, for the last time as it were, the Lord pleads with us to return to Him (verses 2-3a, 6) and find our satisfaction in Him. \u00a0 <\/span>Looking back on my life, what has given me the deepest satisfaction?\u00a0 <\/span>Is the peace we have today not found in the memory of having given ourselves – though imperfectly – to the Lord and responded to His grace in the past?\u00a0 <\/span>The sacrifice I make today will be the source of a deeper peace in the future.

<\/span>The reading ends with great optimism (verses 10-11). \u00a0 <\/span>The rain and the snow are symbols of grace which gives growth to seed and transforms it. \u00a0 <\/span>God\u2019s grace will achieve its purpose, but in His time. \u00a0 <\/span>As a seed and a plant differ from one another, so does the body we have now differ from the body we will have after the Resurrection.\u00a0 <\/span>(It may be helpful to read\u00a0 <\/span>1 Corinthians 15: 35-44). \u00a0 <\/span>Does my faith make me optimistic?\u00a0 <\/span>Am I patient enough as I wait for His time?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Father Paul Anthony Horrocks<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Chaplain at the Lourdes Sanctuary<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lord, without You I not only have nothing but am nothing – help me know this ever more deeply. \u00a0 <\/span>Take away the indifference I sometimes have to Your appeal to find my satisfaction in You. \u00a0 <\/span>Free me from all that leads to self indulgence and the instant and momentary satisfaction that comes form the things of this world. \u00a0 <\/span>With Mary, may my spirit rejoice forever in You, my God, my Saviour.

<\/span>Let us pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let us reflect on Isaiah (The fifth Reading for the Easter Vigil). Isaiah 55: 1-11 Today the Church is quiet, waiting for the promise of the Resurrection. \u00a0 After accompanying the Lord in His Passion and witnessing His death, there … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35765","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation for Holy Saturday 20th April.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lourdes-france.org\/en\/meditation-for-holy-saturday-20th-april\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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