Discerning Hearts Presents, In Search of the Still Point with Dr. Regis Martin.

Dr. Martin reflects on the mystery of Holy Saturday.

What is of the real and abiding content of the Christian religion?

Is it even possible to identify, much less defend, for people living so many centuries, following its

first appearance in the Mediterranean world? How can an ancient faith be presented in a way that is

fresh and vibrant, indeed, that makes possible true humanity in the world of today.

Well, that was the question, an obscure German priest and professor by the name of Joseph Ratzinger,

put to his students in the summer of 1967, in a series of lectures which later became

introduction to Christianity, a book so captivating that on the strength of its argument, the then-Pope

Paul VI, practically made him a bishop on the spot, setting in motion

a series of elevations that would eventuate in his becoming Pope, whom we know, of course,

as Benedict the 16th.

And while I can't speak for others concerning the impact of the book what it had on

their lives, it certainly produced a great sea change in my own, as a result of which I resolved

to become a theologian. What especially moved me about the book was a particular

section, consisting of really only a few pages, in which he describes the descent of Christ

into hell, surely the deepest and darkest mystery of faith, which we locate right at the center of the

creed. At the time, it so galvanized my attention that I have never gotten over it, having wondered

and written about it ever since. The mystery of Holy Saturday, the day on which God

is dead. It is an event expressing, says Ratzinger, the unparalleled experience of our age,

that God is simply absent, that the grave hides him, that he no longer

awakens, no longer speaks, the descent of God into muteness, into the dark silence of the absent.

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