Appreciating Christ's Presence: A Reflection for Holy Saturday

"The Eucharist is the sacrament of the presence of Christ, who gives Himself to us because He loves us." - Pope St. John Paul II

Today is Holy Saturday, and we wait in solemn anticipation of Easter. As Holy Week has progressed, everything seems to have come to a strange halt as we reflect on Christ's death. The tabernacle is open and empty. Eucharistic Adoration is not offered at parishes. Mass is not celebrated until the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. As someone whose spirituality is predominately centered around the Eucharist, this temporary deprivation of Christ's Eucharistic presence has brought me to have a deeper appreciation of the gift of His presence through the Eucharist.

Being temporarily "deprived" of the Eucharist has made me realize that it's so easy to take Jesus's presence for granted. Since we as Catholics are around Him so often, we can fail to appreciate how much of a privilege we have. We can walk into our churches without giving much thought to Who is there in the tabernacle.

I was able to go to one of my local parishes on Friday afternoon. For some reason, I expected to be able to spend time with Jesus; perhaps I had just assumed He would be there. Soon after arriving, I was faced with an open and empty tabernacle. Without the Eucharist, the church building felt so... so empty. Something, or rather Someone, was missing. That's when reflecting on Jesus's death and its aftermath became real.

I reflected on how the Apostles were faced with Jesus's absence after His death. They would feel His absence until Easter. The Man they had spent the last few years of their life with was gone. They had traveled with Him, watched Him perform miracles, were taught by Him, etc. He even referred to them as His friends. Suddenly, He was dead. Their world must have been turned upside down.

My experience of reflecting on Christ's absence both today and yesterday has lead me to better appreciate His presence in my life. Being temporarily "separated" from Christ's Eucharistic presence has shown me how much of a blessing I've been given to live in such close proximity to Catholic churches where He is present in the tabernacle. The thought of Jesus being truly and physically present in our lives in the modern world is something that may be hard to wrap your head around. However, it should fill us with deep gratitude that Jesus loves us enough to remain with us on Earth through the Eucharist.

So, for the remainder of Holy Saturday, I invite you to reflect on the gift of Christ's presence as we await the coming of Easter. Reflect on how much of a great gift you have been given. May the hope of the Resurrection see you through the darkness of the Passion.

Geo

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