Easter Vigil

For the past 5 or 6 years, my wife and I have participated in the Easter Vigil at our church. From Good Friday night, after the chancel area is cleared of all paraments...all of them—it's a very striking setting—until early Easter Sunday morning, people sign up for times ranging from a half-hour to a couple hours when they sit, alone, in the sanctuary to meditate, read, pray, or whatever they like in that very quiet, stark place. Just one person is always present during those 36 or so hours.

This year, during my own hour early Saturday morning, I found myself thinking about Christ's time on the cross, especially that moment when He cried out, "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani" ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"). To me, this illustrates the true depth of Jesus' suffering. I find it hard to fathom the total isolation and depth of solitude He must have been experiencing at that moment. As God, He completed the necessary task to give me, and you, the means of salvation, but had to do it totally, completely alone. Amazing.