Holy Week – Saturday 4 April 2026
Call to Worship:
It is Saturday
and we sit
because there is nothing else we can do
and nowhere else to be
except here, together,
but who or what do we worship now?
Reading: Luke 23:50-56 – The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph who, though a member of the council, 51 had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Reflection:
Nothing in my hands
but holding the unseen cup.
Pain is still here with me,
tears filling the cup.
Death stole you away from me.
Sabbath keeps me away from you
as you lie all alone;
no weeping at the tomb.
In the moonless night
I broke inside.
Alone my tears fall,
in silence my heart breaks.
No thunderous weeping,
no angels stirring,
lamenting the loss,
the loss of my beloved Lord.
O God,
a whisper:
“Why?”
Prayer:
In this liminal time,
a time of deep sadness and loss,
we come to sit
determined to not let this moment pass
ignored, forgotten, or rejected.
We come to acknowledge the hopelessness
the disciples were feeling on this particular Saturday.
We come to sit together in the silence.
To ponder in the silence.
To mourn in the silence.
It is a day of preparation.
Realising the momentous events of the past few days;
reliving the humiliating trial,
the horrors of the cross,
the loss of someone we loved.
O God, help us in our helplessness,
our incomprehension and our grief.
Lord, what can we do in your honour?
Spices and ointments are no longer an option.
What can we do in your honour?
Remember the times of your life on earth.
What can we do in your honour?
Tell the stories of your birth.
What can we do in your honour?
Love God and our neighbour.
Can we change the question?
Lord, how can we be in your presence?
Lord, we wait …
Amen.
Blessing:
As we wait,
let us seek in silence,
pondering hope in dark times for those in need.
When no words can meet the moment
let us be present with all in need.
For it does not end here …
the sun will rise tomorrow.
(Holy Week Reflections are taken from the Spill the Beans Resource)