We are Easter People: Easter Vigil Mass

Sermon by   Emmanuel Suntheni OSB –  Easter Vigil – Year A

Sermon And Christian Act In The Word

Theme: Alleluia, Christ has truly risen, Alleluia! Have you risen with Christ! Let us meet the risen Christ in Galilee!

Point of Reflection: Have you risen with Christ now, or are you still in the tomb? On Good Friday, we allowed our sins to die with Christ and today we rise with Christ as new persons. Death has been defeated, He has truly risen, Alleluia, let us be glad and rejoice! Yes, He has truly risen, but HAVE YOU MET HIM? Let us meet Him in Galilee. WE ARE EASTER PEOPLE!

Gospel: John 20:1–9
Other Scriptural readings of Easter Vigil*

Easter Symbols and Signs (Reflection): The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs and symbols which are very important and are connected to the meaning and significance of the Resurrection. It is very important to understand these symbols and signs:

• The first sign is the fire that becomes light: Pascal Candle. Light is the most powerful and most primitive of all natural symbols. In the beginning, God said, let there be light. Even more, light is the universal metaphor for insight and understanding, for reason as opposed to ignorance, for freedom from darkness and bondage. Tonight we begin our Easter Vigil with a solemn ceremony of light and we light the Pascal Candle. The Paschal Candle is the symbol of Jesus, the Light of the World, who dispels all darkness and lights our way, as the Pillar of Fire once led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

As the procession makes its way through the Church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the true morning star that never sets, thus, the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered darkness.

• The second sign is Water. Everywhere and throughout history, water has been seen as an undertone for purity. Water is a symbol of renewal, purification, healing and restoration of life We are re-born in water and the Spirit, children of a new creation. Tonight we have the solemn ceremony of the blessing of the Baptismal Font by dipping into it the Pascal Candle, symbolic of the Risen Christ. Then we proclaim solemnly our baptismal promises. Through the water of baptism our sins are washed away and we become a new creature as children of God through a new life in the Holy Spirit.

On the one hand, it recalls the waters of the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus, it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become sharers in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Sermon (Reflection): The Resurrection of Christ is a pledge of our own resurrection. It is the foundation upon which our faith rests. It is the guarantee of our own resurrection and God’s assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we are called to eternal life. So this is a joyful day, a day of great hope.

Like Peter, Paul considers the resurrection of Jesus the absolute core and foundation of his faith, life and mission. For him, the resurrection is an indispensable and essential element of Christianity (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5) without which this faith and its practice would be pointless and absurd (cf. 1 Cor 15:13-18).

But the truth of the Resurrection is supposed to transform us.

Just as Jesus broke through the rock into the freedom of new life, so this feast is meant to free our souls to the possibilities of sin-free living.

Instead of Easter as the conclusion of Lent, it’s the beginning of a new and more disciplined life, focused on holding firm to habits of prayer and devout living we found so refreshing during these last six weeks. Everything about Jesus’ glorious breakthrough from death has implications for us.

We began our celebration tonight with a service of light which symbolised Jesus rising from the dead and bringing light to all of us. The light of Christ has shone in the world, scattering darkness forever. We had been waiting for this moment for thousands of years. We heard in our readings tonight an account of the creation of man and woman (first reading) and the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt (third reading). This was in God’s plan for humankind, but the highpoint in God’s plan for us was the resurrection. This is the greatest celebration of the Church. This night is the most blessed of all as we heard in the Exultet, the Easter Proclamation.

In the New Testament reading tonight, we heard Paul tell the Romans that when we were baptised, we left behind our old life. We, so to speak, entered the tomb with Jesus and rose again to new life (Rom 6:3-4). As Holy Water is blessed with Paschal candle, as Christians, we renew our baptismal promises and we are blessed with the Easter Holy Water. The water is at the foot of the cross, symbolising the new life of grace flows from the cross. During Lent, we went into the desert as Jesus did and tried to overcome sin and temptation. By confessing our sins this week, we have risen from the tomb of sinfulness with the new life of the risen Jesus. Now that we have come out of the tomb of sinfulness, we need to renew our baptismal promises and reject Satan, so let us stay out of the tomb of sinfulness not to go back in again.

We are Easter people!

The gospel of the holy vigil of tonight begins by saying “After the Sabbath” (Mt 28:1), the women went to the tomb.  Why women? Remember, during the birth of Jesus, who was there? Women! Women are true witnesses of faith. But the symbolic gesture of women is life. Unbearably, these women were making preparations, in the darkness of that Sabbath, for “the dawn of the first day of the week”, the day that would change history.  Jesus, like a seed buried in the ground, was about to make new life blossom in the world; and these women, by prayer and love, were helping to make that hope flower.  How many people, in these sad days, have done and are still doing what those women did, sowing seeds of hope!  With small gestures of care, affection and prayer.

At dawn the women went to the tomb.  There, the angel says to them: “Do not be afraid. He is not here; for he has risen” (Cf. Matthew 28:5-6).  They hear the words of life even as they stand before a tomb… And then they meet Jesus, the giver of all hope, who confirms the message and says: “Do not be afraid” (Cf. Matthew 28: 10).  Do not be afraid, do not yield to fear:  This is the message of hope.  It is addressed to us today.  These are the words that God repeats to us today, this very night. We are Easter people! Death has been defeated, the tomb is empty.

The tomb is empty! This is a confirmation of seeing and believing and this is central to our faith as we will read this gospel on Easter Sunday Mass.

The Easter message to us tonight is a message of hope.  It contains a second part, the sending forth.  “Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee” (Cf. Mt 28:10), Jesus says.  “He is going before you to Galilee” (Cf. Mt 28: 7), the angel says.  The Lord goes before us; he goes before us always.  It is encouraging to know that he walks ahead of us in life and in death; he goes before us to Galilee, that is, to the place which for him and his disciples evoked the idea of daily life, family and work.  Jesus wants us to bring hope there, to our everyday life.  For the disciples, Galilee was also the place of remembrance, for it was the place where they were first called.  Returning to Galilee means remembering that we have been loved and called by God.  Each one of us has our own Galilee. We need to resume the journey, reminding ourselves that we are born and reborn thanks to an invitation given gratuitously to us out of love, there, in my own Galilee.  This is always the point from which we can set out anew, especially in times of crisis and trial. With the memory of my own Galilee. As Christians, let us rise with Christ and meet Him in Galilee as we all have our own Galilees. WE ARE EASTER PEOPLE!

Action: I will rise every day with Christ by doing acts of love: I am an Easter person!

Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you for the greatest gift of Salvation you have given us. Alleluia! Jesus Christ has truly risen, Alleluia! We humbly ask you, dear Lord, to resurrect all that is still dead within us. May we be Easter people. Save us from hopelessness and grant us a renewed zeal for eternal life. Anoint us with the power of your Holy Spirit and purify our thoughts and minds, to bear witness to you with our daily lives of care and love. We ask you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has risen in our midst, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

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Emmanuel Suntheni OSB

Emmanuel Suntheni OSB is a Benedictine monk of Inkamana Abbey and he belongs to the Missionary Benedictines. He studied Theology at Duquesne University, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Tangaza University College, and Philosophy at St Antony major seminary. He is currently a PhD student at University of Munich in Germany (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München -LMU).

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