April 11 Homily for the Easter Vigil
This evening we follow the Easter candle into the dark Church; it is a small, flickering flame that pierces the darkness of night. God created light before he created the world, but the sun rises and sets every day. Tonight the light we follow is not something created, but Jesus Christ himself. The darkness of evil and death tried to extinguish him, but it did not succeed. When the Exultet was sung, the deacon called upon the heavens, the earth and the whole Church to rejoice because with this Easter light, God will never let darkness cover the world again.
The readings we have heard proclaimed from Sacred Scripture give us one clear message: God is intimately involved in the world and in the life of every single person. God does not wait for things to happen, he makes them happen. God does not expect us to find him, he goes out in search of us. He expects us to love him because he has loved us first. On this holy night, we discover just how great this love is.
Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead! The cold, dark emptiness of death is defeated by the warm, bright fullness of divine grace. The death of the Son is not going to be the final word: the life of the resurrection is the final word! God has heard our cries. He has seen our sorrow. He has experienced our sufferings. The Father responds to the Son’s offering by physically raising him from the dead. By this action, the resurrection does not bring about an end as much as it institutes a new beginning.
Our Christian faith teaches us that life in Jesus Christ marks a new beginning, a new birth. Tonight we baptize catechumens who have been preparing for this moment, and we welcome into the fullness of the Catholic faith those who have already been baptized. Those who are baptized and received into the Church truly begin a new life. They do not complete a journey, but rather begin one fully with us.
The journey of faith has its ups and downs, joys and crosses. God has entrusted the Sacraments to the Church so that we may always remember that we are never alone. We are brothers and sisters in a community of faith and witnesses to the grace, love and mercy of Jesus’ resurrection. We are daily asked to lead a life of prayer, service and witness of the love of God to the world.
To those of us who are already members of the Church, we renew our baptismal promises, knowing that we have a long way to go in our faith lives. We will hold lighted candles in our hands, remembering our baptism and the comfort that faith brings in the midst of a troubled and confusing world.
On this night the Church tells us to rejoice. We rejoice in the light of the Easter candle, because Christ has been raised from the dead to conquer sin and death. We rejoice that he has added to our numbers by calling these catechumens and candidates to faith. We rejoice in the Sacrament of Baptism which sanctifies us and the Holy Eucharist that feeds us. Finally, we rejoice because even though this world may seem dark, we know that the Light of Christ’s love, presence and power will never be extinguished.
