HOLY SATURDAY APRIL 4, 2026

REFLECTION

Growing up, my mother would take me on Holy Saturday to Church to "give our condolences" to Mother Mary. The Church was so quiet.

But what really happened on Holy Saturday while Jesus lay in the tomb? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (634-637) tells us that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, descended into the realm of the dead as their Savior.

The realm of the dead is referred to as "Sheol" or "Hades" where the just dead were waiting for the Redeemer. Adam and Eve, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David and the prophets were in the realm of the dead.

Originally "hell" meant a covered or hidden place and it was used synonymously with the Greek "Hades" or Hebrew "Sheol". Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before Him.

Therefore, "hell" in the Creed is synonymous with Hades (the realm of the dead), not Gehenna (the place of eternal punishment).

CCC 634 explains that the descent to the dead is "the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission". He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before Him. (CCC 637)

Jesus was busy, He, "the Author of Life" destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades,: so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (CCC 635)

Waiting with eagerness the Glorified Risen Lord.

God Bless You.

1. The Little Black Book, Lent 2026, Little Books of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan