Easter Vigil
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
March 30, 2024
A People That Walked in Darkness
As darkness enveloped the earth, we gathered. The darkness that surrounded us pointed to the darkness and chaos that prevailed before God created the world. So also it pointed to the darkness of sin and confusion that prevailed due to the sin of Adam at the dawn of creation, sin that would be endlessly repeated. In that double darkness, so to speak, the new fire was struck and blessed. We saw in it that fire of God’s love, the love in which he created us, and the love in which he still more wondrously redeemed us.
From that fire we lighted the paschal candle, chanting three times as we progressed through the darkened Cathedral, “Light of Christ!” “Thanks be to God!” And we adored Christ, “the light of the world.” He, the Eternal Son, God from God, light from light, was the pillar of fire that led the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt to the freedom of promised land. He, the Eternal Son now leads our catechumens, those to be baptized, from the grasp of a godless world to the embrace of Triune love, even as he leads those to be received into full communion with the Church into the fullness of truth.
And just as the prophetess Miriam sang a passionate song of praise to the God who delivered the Israelites, allowing them to pass dry-shod through the Red Sea, so tonight did the Virgin-Mother Church sing a passionate hymn of praise to the Christ, who, by his Cross and Resurrection, enables us to pass from sin to grace and from grace to glory. Thus, did we listen to the Exultet with candles burning and hearts aflame.
The Vigil of the Word
True to its name, the Easter Vigil is very much a vigil. This we know, having listened to twelve Scripture readings followed by as many responsories! As in the semi-darkened church, the Word was proclaimed, the light began to shine more and more brightly as we traced the history of salvation from the dawn of creation until now. We walked with the Israelites through the desert, listened to the prophets, felt a rising sense of expectation overtake us…
And it burst forth like an explosion of light and love, as we listened anew to the proclamation of the greatest event in human history. The Son of God who took flesh to save us from our sins, was crucified, but he is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, that is, by the Holy Spirit. Creation is made new. Sin is conquered. We are made new. So it is that we were no longer surrounded by darkness but enveloped in light, the light that is Christ, the light which the darkness could not overcome. So it is that we sing our Alleluias!
The Light Shines In Us and Through Us
Moments from now, our catechumens, illuminated by the glory of the Risen Lord, will reject sin, embrace the faith, ask for baptism, and be born again by water and the Holy Spirit, passing from sin to grace and from death to life in the One who makes all things new. Let us love and embrace those who this very night are becoming with one with us in the Easter sacraments. Let us love and embrace those who, already baptized, will join our catechumens in being confirmed and in receiving the Eucharistic Lord for the first time.
And let those of us who have been Catholic Christians our whole life long rejoice, rejoice as new members are incorporated into the Body of Christ, rejoice as we are renewed in our own baptism, rejoice as we promise anew to life as children of the light, rejoice as we share the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice with the newly initiated.
Thus, aided by the prayers of the saints and angels, let us come to understand by what water we have been cleansed, by whose Spirit we have been reborn, and by whose Blood we have been redeemed. Christ is risen, indeed, he is truly risen. Alleluia! Alleluia!