Guardian of the Tomb

Today is Good Friday. We gathered at Mt. Calvary to sing the Passion. It was very very crowded. We had to wait for the doors of the Basilica to be opened and then the friars filed in followed by the canons and the Patriarch; then by hundreds of christians.

The Passion began on time but the sacristans (all 3) were so busy running between Mt. Calvary and the sacristy getting things that no one was available to guard the Tomb of Christ. The Blessed Sacrament was placed inside the tomb yesterday after the Mass of the Last Supper and no one is allowed to enter it. So it had to be guarded from the throng that gathered to try and enter it. Well I was then told to be the guardian of the Tomb as everyone else was up on Mt Calvary. I was down near the Tomb to keep crowd-control at that time.

It took a while for it to soak in - the guardian of the Tomb .... the empty Tomb..... recorded in all 4 Gospels.... the very place where Jesus was buried and rose again after 3 days. It was an awe-full experience: it was terribly humbling. There I was standing at the entrance of the Tomb - watching over it on behalf of the entire Catholic Church while the Passion of St John was sung up on Mt Calvary. It was frightening. I could not but help think of my unworthiness to be guarding the Tomb, yet I also thought of God's mysterious ways in choosing me on Good Friday to do this. Our Franciscan friar who was in charge of maintaining the Status Quo in the Holyland places passed by the Tomb and asked if I was the guardian of the tomb and I said yes. It was a frightening answer... knowing that no one else in the entire world at that moment could say the same thing.

There was a small crowd praying in silence before the Tomb, some on their knees. While I stood there for almost 2 hours, I thought of all of you and prayed for everyone as I served as the guardian of the Tomb of Christ on Good Friday 2009.