![\"Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_(Columbus,_Ohio)_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/458\/2015\/04\/Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_Columbus_Ohio_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle-300x266.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOne of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic Church, my dad\u2019s dad would always tip his hat (I love that he wore hats) and my mother\u2019s father would inevitably cross himself.<\/p>\n
I can remember my older brother asking why once, and hearing my dad\u2019s dad say, \u201cIt\u2019s because He\u2019s in there, in the tabernacle.\u201d I recall looking at the church and wondering who could be in there that was so important that my grandfather would slow down and say hello to someone he couldn\u2019t even see from the street.<\/p>\n
As I got older, and lost my paternal grandfather, it was only my mom\u2019s father who slowed down to say \u201cHello.\u201d\u00a0 I loved him and wanted to make him proud, so I would cross myself too. He would nod in approval and\u00a0 smile at me when I joined him in this small show of respect.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll always remember the Good Friday when we drove by St Elizabeth\u2019s Church.\u00a0 As my hand rose to my forehead, Grandpa\u2019s gentle hand reached out to stop me.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNot today,\u201d he told me. \u201cToday he\u2019s not there.\u00a0 The tabernacle is empty and the whole world is a little sadder to not have Him in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where my brain is this morning\u2026in that big boat of a car with my grandfather as his eyes welled up and he fought back his sadness.\u00a0 His mournful voice said, \u201cToday He\u2019s in the tomb and we are alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind keeps drifting to the empty tabernacles all over the world with their doors standing open, filled only with the silence of the grave.\u00a0 How ready we will be for Easter to arrive when we can again bask in his glorious presence.<\/p>\n
\nPhoto \u2013 By Nheyob (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic Church, my dad\u2019s dad would always tip his hat (I love that he wore hats) and my mother\u2019s father would inevitably cross himself. I can remember my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shoved to Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/files\/2015\/04\/Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_Columbus_Ohio_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle-300x266.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca Frech\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca Frech\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html\",\"name\":\"Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d\"},\"description\":\" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Without Him – A Good Friday Reflection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/\",\"name\":\"Shoved to Them\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d\",\"name\":\"Rebecca Frech\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca Frech\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/author\/rfrech\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection","description":" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection","og_description":" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html","og_site_name":"Shoved to Them","article_published_time":"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/files\/2015\/04\/Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_Columbus_Ohio_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle-300x266.jpg"}],"author":"Rebecca Frech","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca Frech","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html","name":"Without Him - A Good Friday Reflection","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-03T17:57:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d"},"description":" One of the few memories I have of both of my grandfathers is of their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 When we would drive past a Catholic","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2015\/04\/without-him-a-good-friday-reflection.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Without Him – A Good Friday Reflection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/","name":"Shoved to Them","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d","name":"Rebecca Frech","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rebecca Frech"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/author\/rfrech"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1979"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_(Columbus,_Ohio)_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/458\/2015\/04\/Saint_Leo_Catholic_Church_Columbus_Ohio_-_altar_with_empty_tabernacle.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n