I have always felt there to be something special and unique in the role of Jospeh of Arimathea. He conjures the fatherly love, compassion, and dedication as Jesus’ father, Joseph. Like St. Joseph, he does not have a voice in the Gospel. He “asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus…also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes…they took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with spices….they laid Jesus there [in a garden] because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by” (John 19:1-42).

The rock was rolled over the tomb. The men retire. All is quiet. As Pope Benedict XVI said, “Holy Saturday is the day of the ‘death of God’…God is simply absent, that the grave hides him, that he no longer awakes, no longer speaks…”

There is a moss filled stone wall a few feet away from the tomb. I sit there, hands supporting my body by pressing down on the soft matting, shoulders hunched up. I wait. I ponder His teachings. I remember the various ways He walked with me this past year. With hope-filled anticipation I will sit here quietly with my Lord anticipating His victory over death and the joy that comes in the fulfillment of His Word.