Mass at the Empty Tomb
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Jerusalem
September 3, 2025
We read in the Gospels that a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, asked Pilate to release the body of Jesus and then laid him in his newly hewn tomb. Mark and Luke tell us that Joseph was among those looking of the Kingdom of God, whereas John speaks of him as a secret disciple of the Lord. We also read that Nicodemus was on hand with an enormous quantity of myrrh and aloes for Jesus’ burial. We recall that Nicodemus was a secret disciple who came to Jesus by night.
As Jesus stood trial and was condemned, no one spoke for him. But with his death, we encounter well-educated and prominent leaders who had secretly put their trust and hope in Jesus, found their voice and were willing to be identified with Jesus. Deep down, they were blessed with that simplicity of heart that enables one to hope against hope.
So it was that One who was condemned and crucified as a common criminal was buried and anointed as One who is a king. The new tomb, the spices, the linen cloths all attest to this. Just when everything seemed to be lost and all was finished, Jesus’ glory shone through, the glory of God’s only begotten Son full of grace and truth.
Like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, we have come to this tomb as pilgrims of hope. Even if our discipleship is no secret, we are no strangers to fear and hesitancy because of the resistance and persecution that the Name of Christ still generates after more than 2,000 years. Like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, we have come here to be renewed in hope, that in Christ, life has conquered our sin and death. Like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, we have also come here to find our voice so that we may never hesitate to proclaim the hope that is ours even in the most difficult and desperate situations.
We are here in these days to plead for those in desperate straits, innocent civilians killed, injured, taken hostage, innocent people dying of starvation and disease, those who have lost their homes and livelihood to the chaos of war, those who are pawns in a high-stakes bid for dominance. Into this desperate situation in which all appears to be lost, we come as pilgrims of hope who trust that somehow the glory of the Lord will shine through. Just as Jesus could not be held captive by death, we ask him to bless our efforts to help release those now living in darkness and in the shadow of death. With God, all things are possible.