Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:2, Ps. 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35, Genesis 22:1-18, Ps. 16:5,8-11, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Exodus 15, Isaiah 54:5-14, Ps. 30:2,4-6,11-13, Isaiah 55:1-11, Isaiah 12, Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4, Ps. 19:8-11, Ezekiel 36:16-17,18-28, Ps. 42:2-3,5,42:3-4, Romans 6:3-11, Ps. 118:1-2,16-17,22-23, Mark 16:1-8
“Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:9-11)
My dear brothers and sisters, are you tired? Please wake someone up. It isn’t easy to stay awake after the day’s activities to listen to all the readings and musical psalms we have just heard. Have you ever wondered why there are so many readings on Easter Vigil? This brings us to our lessons for today:
1. Why Are There Many Readings? There is an adage: “Only a person who knows where he is coming from will know where he is going?” We have been on a journey since the beginning of the liturgical year, but tonight, we pause to peruse the map. Tonight, we gather around this special campfire (the Pascal Candle) to reflect on the essence of our journey. Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is our business with God? What has God done for us? What does He want from us? These are the questions answered in today’s readings. From the first reading taken from the book of Genesis, which took us back to the story of creation, down to today’s Gospel passage, our readings have provided a candid summary of our salvation story. The next question now is: “Why this night?”
2. What is Special about This Night? The Easter Proclamation answers: “This is the night when God led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea. This is the night that God banished the darkness of sin with a pillar of fire. This is the night that, even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and the gloom of sin, leading them to grace and joining them with his holy ones. This is the night Christ broke the prison bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld… The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, brings down the mighty… O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth and divine to the human.” Let someone give a clap offering to Jesus!!! Clap for Jesus! Clap for Jesus! This night is no ordinary; it is a night of victory, a night we walk from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom, from death to life. Does it mean we were dead before?
3. How Did We Get Here? In the beginning, when God created the world, everything was good. Humans were the greatest of all created things. God blessed us, making us masters of the universe. He was so pleased with us that He rested afterwards. (First Reading). However, as humans continued to multiply on earth, sin also multiplied. Desiring to save humanity, God chose Abraham and began a new race from him. This was only after Abraham had passed the test. What was this test? To sacrifice his only begotten son, Isaac, whom He loved so much. (Second Reading). Despite being in covenant with God, Abraham’s descendants (our forefathers in faith) found themselves in slavery in a foreign land. With Moses as their leader, God saved them by mighty works of valour. With their eyes, they saw their enemies defeated as the bodies of their pursuers littered on the seashore. (Third Reading).
4. What Went Wrong? Even though they were free from physical captivity, the Israelites, God’s chosen children, remained slaves to sin, but God never gave up. Prophet after prophet, God continued to send His messengers to them. We heard Isaiah, Baruch, and Ezekiel all pleading that they return to God. Nevertheless, they remained obstinate in sin. They behaved like an unfaithful wife while God remained the patient husband. (Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Reading).
5. What Is The Good News? At the fullness of time, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to reconcile not just the chosen people but the entire human race to God. In Jesus Christ, God has broken the chains of sin that have imprisoned us for ages. St. Paul explains in the eighth reading: “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe we shall live with him.” (Romans 6:6-8). This is where we are today. This is the Good News. This is what gives us joy. The chains have been broken; we are free of the curse of sin and evil.
6. What Must We Do Now? As we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, this is the time for us to rise with Him from everything that represents death and darkness. It is time to shine like this Pascal Candle. The chains have been broken. Get up and walk out. Do not behave like prisoners who remain in their cells after the gates have been flung open. It is time to rise and shine. The women came hoping to meet a dead body, but they met Angels who told them: “Go and tell his brothers, Jesus is Risen. Death couldn’t hold Him down.” Brothers and Sisters, what are we waiting for? Go and announce the Good News.
Let us pray: Almighty, ever-living God, teach me to die to sin each moment by the power of Christ’s resurrection. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Holy Saturday. Bible Study: Genesis 1:1-2:2, Ps. 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35, Genesis 22:1-18, Ps. 16:5,8-11, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Exodus 15, Isaiah 54:5-14, Ps. 30:2,4-6,11-13, Isaiah 55:1-11, Isaiah 12, Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4, Ps. 19:8-11, Ezekiel 36:16-17,18-28, Ps. 42:2-3,5,42:3-4, Romans 6:3-11, Ps. 118:1-2,16-17,22-23, Mark 16:1-8).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu