3/28/13

Lectio: Jn 18.1-19.42

Meditatio: "So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day, for the tomb was close by." Jn 19,42

 Oratio: "O God, many were there when they laid Your Son in the tomb.

I remember according to the Evangelist, John, the tomb where they laid Jesus was near by where He was crucified - so a crowd was able to see what happened after Jesus was taken down from the cross.

Grant that comforted by the testimony of so many that Your Son did die and did gloriously rise from the tomb three days later.

I ask these and all things through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the

Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Contemplatio: Keep silence and remain in recollection for a few minutes.

Operatio: Reflect on "laid Jesus there"; it was a tomb in which no one had yet been buried; it was the practice in those days to use the same tomb for multiple burials and bones of those previously buried would be evident when they did a later burial; the fact that it was a new tomb meant that it was completely empty when the women went to the tomb that first Easter morning. In prayer thank God for the faithful women and for the faithful witnesses who testify to the core of our faith that Christ has died, Christ had risen and Christ will come again.

Tomorrow's reading: Lk 24.1-12