The Shielded Candle

The shielded candle flickers next to the shrouded reserve sacrament.
The church is quiet: the greater church keeps vigil ---
It is Good Friday.
For the faithful, it is a time of waiting.
The altar is stripped, the sanctuary light is gone.
Only the cross, silhouetted above the barren altar, remains.
It, the ordeal which through the power of its love and submission, saves us.
By the grace of God, we live;
And though we die,
We live.
Amen.

Marian Stewart
11:10 am
April 14, 2006