The above image was created by Megan Burns Argabrite and appeared on the Sanctified Art Facebook page, with an invitation for anyone to use it. I love it as we draw our Lenten series to a close.
But, we have one more day of Holy Week to go.
A Facebook friend reposted this from American author and historian of Christianity Diana Butler Bass. It originally appeared on Bluesky:
“A corrumpt, authoritarian government seizes an innocent man, tortures and jails him on trumped-up charges that change during a manipulated legal process. The prisoner is left at the mercy of dehumanizing politicians and jailers to do with what they please.
Holy Week then. America now.”
Butler Bass is referring to the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García from the US to El Salvador, and the Trump administration's refusal to have him returned despite a unanimous Supreme Court decision to do so.
Today is often called Holy Saturday … the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We know Easter is coming but we aren’t quite there yet. Some traditions have vigils on this day. We are still sitting in shock, grief, and disbelief from the events of the week.
Fortunately, we know the end of the story. Spoiler alert: Death is not the end. Cruelty, oppression, and inhumanity did not win. And it will not win today.
Our Sanctified Art materials have provided us with A Poem For Holy Saturday by Avery Arden. If you didn’t receive one at the Good Friday service yesterday, here it is:
And if the waiting becomes unbearable, this might lighten your spirit. It’s from the same folks from Australia that did the Christmas videos I posted in December. They have taken a few liberties with the story … but I think they got the main points right. Jesus is risen. Go tell everyone.
(211) Easter According to Kids - YouTube
Happy Easter. See you tomorrow.
