Tonight is the culmination of a long journey. During
Lent and Holy Week, we journeyed with Jesus in his passion and in his way to
the cross. We
started this journey with Jesus with Ash Wednesday, with a desire in our hearts
to repent for our sins and to turn away from those things that keep us from following
the Gospel in our daily lives. Today, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, we complete this
journey. This
evening follows a tradition from the Early Church with a group of adults who
started who started a special journey way back in September. Seven
adults are going to receive their first communion and confirmation as members
of our RCIA program, as we rejoice this glorious evening with them. In
addition to celebrating the baptism of three children and the baptism and first
communion of a teen this evening, we also celebrate the confirmation of three
members of our very first Spanish RCIA program here at St James.
Why
such a great celebration tonight? Why do
we devote so much time and effort commemorating an event that took place almost
2,000 years ago? Tonight we profess that Jesus no longer just belongs to the past, but he truly
lives in the present and he is projected toward the future. Our
faith tells us that the resurrection of the risen Christ is an everlasting
reality in our lives. Just
as the women who found the empty tomb received a glimpse of the reality of the
resurrection, just as the disciples started to learn what Christ’s resurrection
meant to them, we are also called to contemplate this reality Christ brings
into our lives – his victory over sin and death that brings us new life.
Even
though our salvation comes from this historical event of the death and
resurrection of Christ, we still watch and wait to see what wonders God is
doing in our lives today. The
celebration of the Easter vigil mass tonight invites each one of us to break
open some very powerful symbols of God’s action in our lives of faith and our
response to that action. All
we do tonight - the waiting, the readings
that break open for us the history of salvation, the Easter fire and lit
candles, the dignified procession at the beginning of mass and the music, the
blessing of the baptismal waters and the initiation of new members into our
faith – all of this remind us of the amazing things that God has accomplished
something in his word through his love and mercy. Our Easter
Vigil mass tonight is a powerful statement, both individually and collectively,
of how we are to be ready to be renewed and to live out of the grace we receive
from him. Yes,
our Vigil mass tonight stresses how important our Church and our local
community of faith is, as we gather tonight with Catholic churches throughout
the world, all of us using the same rituals and readings and symbolism, to
celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.
The
baptismal promises that the newly baptized will make tonight, the baptismal
promises we renew as a community of faith, call us to embrace the values of our
faith with courage and zeal and to renounce those things that keep us from
God. From
the death and resurrection of Jesus and from waters of baptism should flow a
vision that should change and challenge the way we live and engage with the
world. Indeed, what we experience tonight at our Easter Vigil mass should inspire us
to look at our old ways and to live in a new way centered around Christ. In
our reinvigorated Easter faith, we hope to be alive in the spirit of Christ -
in the Christ who shared our life, who spoke up for the oppressed, who healed
the sick, who fed the hungry, and who died to bring us salvation. This
is the spirit of Christ that we are called to share with our world.
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