The liturgy of the Easter Vigil Mass is symbolized by the darkness of the night. The darkness represents the darkness in the world, the darkness in the universe, the darkness in our human hearts. But there is power and hope in the darkness as a light is struck. The darkness is broken by Christ the light.
The symbolism of a light in the midst of darkness speaks to us at our Easter Vigil mass. As the Easter fire spread throughout our community with the lighting of our individual candles, as the Easter proclamation is sung while the Paschal candle came front and center in the church, we saw how the light of Christ enters our world. The light that God sends into the world is present in different ways that we hear in our readings tonight. God sent his light into the world when he created it. He lit the way for the people of Israel to be liberated from slavery and oppression. God sends us life giving water to refresh us and bring us new life through the message of the prophet Isaiah and through the passion, death, and resurrection of his Son.
Tonight, we celebrate the Easter mysteries in a special way with our catechumen and our candidates who are entering the Church and whole will received first Holy Eucharist for the first time. This is an exciting evening for all of us as we celebrate our Catholic faith and the resurrection of our Lord.
From the beginning of time, human beings have searched for meaning and for something greater than themselves. The search can bring us some wonderful, unexpected joys. But, unfortunately, that search can also lead us to some dark, foreboding places as well. Tonight, we know that this search that we undertake as Catholics is to lead us to only one place: to the salvation, redemption, and new life that we have in our Lord. The saints have accompanied us on our journey this evening and we invoke their presence through the litany of saints. The saints are here in their prayers and intercessions, uniting with us around the altar of the Lord on this joyful night. With us tonight are saints who accompanied Jesus during his earthly journey – John the Baptist, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and Mary of Magdala. With us tonight are saints who were preachers of the word: Paul, Francis of Assisi, and Pope John XXIII. With us tonight are holy men and women who lived their faith in the reality of their world: Teresa of Avila, Benedict, and Elizabeth Ann Seton. We unite our prayers with those of the saints and we ask for their continued help on our journey.
The Easter Vigil mass fills our hearts with joy tonight with the light of the paschal candle, the smell of the incense and the sounds of the bells, the joyful Easter hymns sung by the choir, and the Gospel message of Christ’s resurrection, of the ladies who come to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body only to find the tomb empty. The stone has been rolled back from the entrance to the tomb. Jesus has risen! May the joy of the Easter season that fills our hearts help us remove those stone that are holding us down. Tonight is not an end. As we continue our journey through the Easter season in the upcoming weeks, may we continue to allow the Easter mysteries to convert our hearts and the reality of our daily lives.
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